MARTINA HINGIS will continue to combat post-retirement blues at this summer’s Liverpool International.
The former world number one, who reckoned the boredom of the professional tennis circuit forced her and several of her peers into early retirement, relishes the laid-back camaraderie of the legends circuit.
And after recreating her famous Wimbledon final with Jana Novotna at Calderstones Park last summer, she’s coming back for more this year.
The tournament has already secured a major coup with the appearance of John McEnroe and the current world number one doubles pairing Bob and Mike Bryan.
But Hingis was a popular addition to last summer’s event and is returning for the June 16-20 tournament.
The Swiss star has distant links with Liverpool.
She became the youngest Wimbledon champion of the modern era at the age of 16, the youngest champion since Merseyside’s Lottie Dod took the title in 1887. Her Centre Court triumph at the age of 16 was the second of five Grand Slam titles she won before she was 19 and Hingis looked set to dominate women’s tennis for years to come. But she quit the game at just 22 and after a brief comeback, gave up competitive tennis completely last year at the age of 27.
Other modern high profile retirements included Kim Clijsters and Justine Henin.
And Hingis explained: “Tennis takes a lot out of you.
“People think it is a very glamorous lifestyle, which in some ways it is.
“But it can also be tiring travelling from city to city around the world for most of the year. But girls tend to start their careers very young so by the time you have reached your mid-20s, you could have been on the tour for 10 years already.
“You don’t really have a normal teenage life, you spend those years on tour so you have to grow up very quickly.”
Hingis was helped on her way to retirement by a ban from professional competitive tennis for two years following a positive test for cocaine.
She denied taking the drug but saw the incident as an opportune moment to call time on her career.
“Travelling to new cities is always something I enjoy,” added Hingis.
She will be hoping for a trouble-free entrance this summer – after arriving at John Lennon Airport last year, only to discover her baggage had not followed her!
She was forced to pop into the city’s new Debenhams store to stock up on clothes before heading to Calderstones Parkliverpoolecho.co.uk
Boy, is her plate getting full with all these exhibition entries, someone must be getting really bored of living the quiet life ;).
Not that I can blame her being banned from the sport for those 2 years must have driven her nuts. I guess now she's making up for all that lost time.
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