Hingis beats Venus to enter final

[chandu]

Martina Hingis broke her 'Williams sisters' jinx to beat Venus 0-6, 6-3, 6-3 at the Italian Open on Saturday and reach her second final since ending a three-year retirement.

Hingis's win -- her first over the Wimbledon champion since the semi-finals of the 2001 Australian Open -- sent the Swiss through to a final against 16th seed Dinara Safina who edged out fellow Russian Svetlana Kuznetsova 3-6, 6-4, 7-5.

After a litany of unforced errors in the first set, Hingis worked her way into the match before snatching a crucial break in the eighth game of the decider and serving out for victory in a match between two former world number ones.

"In the first set I felt like I could cry - I was missing my shots by a little bit and my timing was out," said Hingis, who also beat Williams on her way to winning the title in 1998.