The tussle of the teen queens produced the requisite drama today before Martina Hingis again prevailed over Anna Kournikova 6-4, 4-6, 6-4 in their third-round encounter.

It was the first time the 16-year-old Kournikova has taken a set from the brilliant Swiss in five meetings, and she made Hingis sufficiently uncomfortable to demonstrate that she is narrowing the gap and a first victory over the world No.1 can't be too far off. "I've done a good job but if I get a bit more experience I would win this type of match," Kournikova said afterward.

All five of their meetings have taken place in the glare of Grand Slam events (three of them in the open ranks, two in juniors). Only eight months separate them in age, but in tennis achievement Hingis has been by far the quickest out of the blocks. With three Grand Slam wins among her 12 titles in 1997 and as the youngest-ever holder of the No.1 ranking, she is an accomplished genius. Kournikova is yet to win a pro event, her best result being the semi-finals at Wimbledon last year (where she fell to Hingis), but she has come a long way in just two seasons - from 281 to 29 in the rankings. In 1997 she never lost to a player ranked outside the top 15.

Hingis secured a quick break to lead 2-0 before Kournikova levelled at 2-all. Another break went Martina's way in the fifth game and she carried this over the line to take the first set 6-4. Anna was bravely forcing the issue at the net but too often Martina had her pick of passing shots and the younger player seemed to lack the variety to truly trouble Hingis.

Anna, as always, kept her head up. At 2-all in the second, when she denied Hingis several breakpoints, the tide seemed to turn. She started picking the direction of Hingis's passes and picking up the pace on her returns. Hingis meanwhile was mixing occasional brilliance with uncharacteristic error. When Hingis wasted another opportunity at 4-all, 0-30 on the Kournikova serve, Anna sensed her chance. With Hingis serving to stay in the set at 4-5, she drilled three return winners to arrive at setpoint. Then she hit an angled forehand that looked like something straight from the Hingis repertoire. Martina's lunging reply found the net. One set all.

Now the Russian had her dander up and Hingis looked in all sorts of bother. She admitted later that several thoughts crowded her head: her early loss to Venus Williams in Sydney last week ("I didn't want that to happen again") and the scary prospect of losing on the Centre Court in the third round of the event she won so brilliantly a year ago. "It's always tough to play someone your age, or younger," said Martina.

She broke Kournikova in the first game of the third set but three errors in the next game quickly had her in trouble again and Anna needed only a fortunate net-cord to take the game. Another couple of service breaks followed before Kournikova held for 3-2. At 3-all, Hingis again failed to convert her chances; two breakpoints came and went, Kournikova averting the second one with an ace.

At 4-all, three stray backhands and a timed-to-perfection lob from Hingis cost Kournikova her service game and, effectively, the match. Three more errors from the Russian (including her 34th off the backhand wing) brought up matchpoint for Hingis, serving at 5-4, and she did not dally, putting in a smart first serve and smashing the short reply. Her relief was obvious as she jumped up and punched the air.

"She (Anna) was always the more aggressive player on the court and I was just trying to hang in there and win the important points," said the champ afterward, the beaming smile returned. "She always tried to change it up, come in a bit more. I was like, not really in there sometimes."

While Kournikova officially makes her nervous on the court, off the court "we are very good friends," said Martina. They danced together at the player party early in the tournament and also watched the Serena Williams-Irina Spirlea match together.

If Hingis felt a good measure of relief at again staving off a younger rival, Kournikova was also relieved to add credibility to her tennis status, as opposed to her unchallenged pin-up girl status. "I showed everybody that I can play tennis and I will play tennis." She was mostly happy with her performance, apart from a fatal spell of impetuousness at 4-all in the third. "I just rushed a little bit, went for the winners. I should have kept the ball in play." But it takes a lot more to devastate Kournikova than merely losing a tennis match, albeit a big one. "This time was really close. Next time I'll do the same thing and be a bit smarter on the court."

Rest assured there will be a next time. The Martina-Anna show looks set to enjoy a long run.

Suzi Petkovski is a feature writer for Inside Sport magazine.