Can you remember 1998? Martina Hingis can. That was the last time she won a singles tennis tournament in the California desert.
“That’s a long time ago. I’m getting pretty old,” Hingis said with a ready smile.
In the late 1990s, Hingis was the face of the Women’s Tennis Association (WTA). Very few players on the women’s professional tennis circuit could challenge her. She was then an uber-confident teenager. Some saw her confidence as arrogance. She often smiled but you couldn’t help but wonder if it all came too fast or too easy for Hingis. Many cheered for her underdog opponents.
We weren’t yet hearing about two sisters named Williams in 1998. But we would very soon.
Hingis had an incredible run in her short singles career, which was marred by a controversial positive drug test for cocaine in 2007 that suspended her from play for two years and forced early retirement. A five-time Grand Slam winner (three Australian Opens, one Wimbledon, and one US Open), she is finding her way back into tennis and into the hearts of tennis fans through the doubles circuit.
At 33, Hingis is hardly too old to be competitive for tennis doubles. After all, it was another Martina named Navratilova who won the 2006 US Open mixed doubles competition with partner Bob Bryan at the over-the-hill age of 49. Navratilova was one month shy of turning 50. In her prime, Hingis was a terrific doubles player too, winning nine Grand Slams.
At the 2014 BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells, Calif., the “Swiss Miss” reemerged as a surprise doubles partner to 2013 Wimbledon finalist, Sabine Lisicki, ranked No. 15 in the world and in the Top 20 for the second season in a row.
Though they didn’t win their doubles debut against the established winning Aussie duo of Ashleigh Barty and Casey Dellacqua, the two German-speaking friends showed a lot of spirit and competition in front of an enthusiastic crowd at the brand new 8,000-seat Stadium 2. They fought off four match points to win the second set and extend the match to a third-set super tiebreaker.
“I haven’t played doubles until last year,” Hingis said, who teamed up with Daniela Hantuchova. “With Sabine it was so much fun. She asked me just last week. We had talked about it once last year after Wimbledon, that it would be cool to play doubles. Now it became reality.”
Hingis wouldn’t fully commit to declaring Indian Wells her official comeback, but both players displayed the joy they have playing together on the court. They communicate freely in their native German and English.
Lisicki, who is nine years younger, is honored to be playing doubles with a friend, new coach and childhood tennis idol. It was at this year’s Australian Open in January that Hingis first stepped in to coach Lisicki, who was being coached by her father, Dr. Richard Lisicki.
Inducted into the International Tennis Hall of Fame in 2013, Hingis could have easily retired into coaching or commentary. But she has been thinking for the last seven years about playing doubles. The modern women’s singles game has long passed her by. It is much too fast, power-driven and baseline for the diva of tennis finesse. It was never the Hingis serve that won tennis matches, but her ability to be nimble around the court with timely drop shots, lobs and net volley play. She could often outsmart her opponents and she can still use that chess-like art form in doubles tennis play.
Hingis may have found the right doubles partner chemistry with which to please the crowd, have fun and maybe win another title. It may be her best opportunity to keep playing a game that she so obviously still loves playing. If it’s fun, then it doesn’t have to be about winning every time.
What was seen at Indian Wells in 2014 was a woman who is years departed from the teenage phenom who beat about every competitor she faced. Back then her smile was that of a winner facing little threat from opponents. Today her smile appears more relaxed and free. Many tennis fans appear to like this version of Hingis better.
Next up for Hingis is her second tournament doubles play with Lisicki at the Sony Open in Miami. After the short but sweet fun the two had in the desert, there’s no doubt that the Florida heat will be welcoming.
dailytitan.com
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