"No wonder Martina Hingis hated Serena Williams, a menace" - Fans amused by American revealing how she psyched out Hingis in US Open final

Serena Williams opened up about the mind games she played to get the upper hand against Martina Hingis in her first Grand Slam final in 1999. Fans lauded the American's confidence as she was an up-and-coming teenager at the time against the World No. 1 Hingis.

In her latest documentary titled 'In The Arena: Serena Williams', the 42-year-old tennis legend looks back at significant moments from her career and life. She also opened up about how she tried to win the mental game against Hingis during their 1999 US Open final.

Williams, 17 at the time, had taken down Grand Slam champions like Monica Seles and Lindsay Davenport on her way to facing Hingis in the final. The Swiss won the coin toss and chose to receive, Williams intimidated Hingis and asked if she was sure about her decision.

The American revealed that Hingis was 'startled'. Williams won the final in straight sets to win the first of 23 singles Grand Slam titles in her career. A video clip of Williams speaking about her interaction with Hingis was uploaded by an X (formerly Twitter) account.

Fans were amused by the revelation and lauded Williams for her confidence.

"No wonder Martina hated her 😂 A menace!" one fan wrote.

"The way them white girls felt terrorized by them sisters lol," another fan wrote.

"Martina was really good lol I'm shocked Serena said this too lol," a third fan wrote.

Here are some more fan reactions to Williams' mind games.

"Psychological warfare is an amazing thing man loool," one fan wrote.

"Momma knew she was about to kick ass lol I miss this confidence on tour," another fan wrote.

"THAT'S GOAT TALK! smth just came out of her smelling that weakness", another wrote.

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Serena Williams and Martina Hingis' head-to-head battle

Serena Williams and Martina Hingis. (Source: GETTY)

Before the 1999 US Open final, Martina Hingis and Serena Williams had faced each other five times and the Swiss led the battle 3-2. The young American, however, was fearless in her approach and won the match to tie the record 3-3.

The pair met in another final in Montreal in 2000 but Williams was on the losing end as she had to retire due to injury in the third set.

Before meeting for the final time in Miami in 2002, Williams and Hingis had faced off 12 times and were tied with six wins each. The American dealt the final blow by winning the match and taking the 7-6 lead.