NEW YORK -- Martina Hingis has again accused the Williams sisters of using race to their advantage, according to a story in this week's issue of Time magazine.

"Being black only helps them," Hingis recently told Time. "Many times they get sponsors because they are black. And they have had a lot of advantages because they can always say, 'It's racism.' They can always come back and say, 'Because we are this color, things happen.' "

Hingis is the U.S. Open's No. 1 seed. She defeated Laura Granville, one of the top college players in the world, in the first round of the tournament Monday.

Hingis has previously accused Venus and Serena Williams of using the race issue to their advantage, too.

In March, Hingis told the Mirror newspaper of London: "I would even say because they may be black, they have a lot of advantages. ... They can always say it's racism."

Hingis' Hall of Fame namesake, Martina Navratilova, also lobbed a few comments the sisters' way.

"I think they've been treated with kid gloves," Navratilova told Time. "People have been afraid to criticize them because they don't want to be called racist."

A spokesman for the sisters' father, Richard Williams, on Sunday night called Hingis' quotes "old news."