Q&A with Martina Hingis

Martina Hingis was known for her fighting spirit on court and, sometimes, her fighting words off it. You can see her drive is still there today, but also that time has softened the attitude. The five-time Grand Slam winner—who’s the same age as Venus Williams (31) and owns the same number of singles titles (43)—retired in 2007. 


Hingis, who married French equestrian show jumper Thibault Hutin in 2010, still travels a lot but lives in Switzerland (and has a place in Paris). She’ll be at the Family Circle Cup in Charleston this weekend for a 40th anniversary celebration also featuring Martina Navratilova, Chris Evert, Billie Jean King, Jimmy Connors, and others.


We caught up with her by phone last week while she was on vacation in the Cayman Islands. Hingis talked about her belief in the new world No. 1, her experiment with coaching, the men she likes to watch on court, and why she thoroughly enjoys life off court.


Which active player’s game do you think most resembles yours?


They’re all almost 6 foot, so it’s hard to compare. (laughs) Victoria Azarenka and Maria Sharapova have been doing so well lately. I really like the game of Azarenka. At one of my last tournaments I got to play her. I thought already back then that she played so well and that she was able to win Grand Slams. It took a little while, four or five years, but I always believed in her game. And I told her after she won Australia, “Finally, you did it!”



Azarenka was on a streak like you were back in 1997.


She has so much confidence. I remember myself—you go on court, and you feel like you can’t lose. That’s such an advantage, because you’re not nervous and you’re playing well. It will be tough for anybody to beat her at this point.



Azarenka has said confidence is overrated, that it’s just about hard work. Your thoughts?


She is a player who always played very well. But at the Grand Slams when she played quarters or semis, she couldn’t beat the top players. I don’t know if she got nervous or something—I wasn’t in her skin. Sometimes you can have a hard first or second round, but it really begins in the quarters and the second week—that’s where you have to bring your A game. We didn’t see her doing that before. I think really her turning point was when she made the finals at the [WTA] Championships last year. Then she started playing well in Australia and all that. Something clicked. I don’t know what it was, but something did. Is that confidence? I think physically and mentally she did it all together. After winning matches, confidence comes along. But you still have to go out there and hit the ball.


Do you think, as many people do, that Agnieszka Radwanska is the top player whose game most resembles yours? 


She doesn’t have the same power as some of the other players, but she makes up for it with touch and strategy. I think it is difficult to say she plays like me, as every player is a bit unique.


Do you watch a lot of tennis? Which players do you most enjoy watching?


Yes, of course, especially now that I’ve been invited to more places. At the beginning of the year I felt like I almost been on the tour myself—Paris, Australia, Doha, now I’m going to Charleston. So players will be like, “Oh, you’re back on tour!” It’s kind of nice that we get invited and there’s a lot of anniversaries this year, like Coubertin and Charleston. I enjoy watching many of the players. Of course Azarenka is playing great and is fun to watch at the moment, but there are several WTA players who can compete for that top spot. On the guys’ side I’ve enjoyed watching the Federer-Nadal rivalry, and I will be keen to see if Djokovic can keep the top spot for the long term.


Do you see yourself coming back to professional tennis?


No, not at all. My life is nice and comfortable, and I enjoy myself playing these exhibitions. Also I’m training juniors at the Mouratoglou Tennis Academy. That’s good enough. I don’t miss the grind and the drilling and all the travel. I like the travel sometimes but full-time, no. I think that’s for the younger players now.


Some of your contemporaries—like the Williams sisters—are still around and playing at a high level. Does that surprise you?


No. As long as they feel great physically and they still have the hunger, I think the right decision for everybody is different. They’ve always paced themselves well, even when they started playing. We started playing on the tour at the same time—Venus and I are the same age, Serena’s a year younger—but they always paced themselves well. They didn’t always play the full schedule from the beginning of their career. They just did their thing the way they thought it was best to do.


Do you keep in touch with many of the players you were on tour with?


There are some players I meet at the Grand Slams. For example, Lindsay [Davenport]. I played with her last year at the French Open and Wimbledon, and we’ll play together again. She’s doing interviews for Tennis Channel. Before the ceremony in Doha she sent me a little text, “Hey! I see you.” And of course when she had her baby girl in January, we were in touch. Or Monica [Seles] and Anna [Kournikova], we see each other at the tennis events.


Could you see yourself doing much TV commentary? 


I like to be more active. I did commentary in 2004, and it’s not something that I’m thinking of, no.


How’s the coaching going?


I’m helping a group of five junior girls aged 17 to 21. I like to be more on the court and helping that way and not being behind the scenes and commentating. It’s not even like coaching—it’s like consulting. I’m not traveling with the girls all the time like when I used to play. It’s only when I’m at home, and it’s sometimes at the Grand Slams as well. We’ll see—it’s a developing project. Right now it’s go with the flow.


How are you enjoying life as a retired pro tennis player? 


I enjoy it. (laughs) I mean, who wouldn’t? Tennis gave me everything that I can enjoy today really, what I worked all my life for, that I can really profit from the last couple of years and hopefully for years to come. I can spend time with my husband. You still get to travel, you get to see different places. Some day you gotta change priorities, you know?

Do you play and practice tennis much apart from the exos?


I like to keep in shape so I play a bit of tennis and often go out on my horses.


Are you still spending much time on competitive horse-jumping?


It’s been a little less. Last year and this year I haven’t done any competitions. I’ve been busy with a lot more exhibitions [and things] like that [Australian Open] trophy ceremony. That’s been more a priority, the tennis world again. The horses only a little bit when I’m at home or I accompany my husband when he goes to shows.


How are things going with your women’s tennis apparel line? How involved are you?


I am very involved. I help with the design, have spent time at Tonic’s headquarters in Vancouver, have done product testing and look forward to continuing to promote my co-branded line of Tonic Tennis Apparel by Martina Hingis. We just had a presentation in Switzerland. I hope that people will like it. You can look it up on the Internet at www.tonictennis.com. [The tentative launch date is late spring/early summer.]


You were on the Players’ Council a decade ago. What issues were you interested in at that time?

Oh, we were all on the board back then—I think it was myself, Lindsay, Monica. Other girls too. All of us wanted to have a say in how the tour should be run. In a way we wanted to protect ourselves. Our priorities were to have good tournaments and sponsorships and be aware of what’s happening on the tour. I think it’s very important to follow that even if you are a player. You should be interested in playing the matches, but I think there is a lot more to it.


What issues would you be interested in if you were on the Players’ Council today?


Tennis has changed so much. The sport has grown so much that there are so many things to do. But it should be divided by the players. The men had a lot more tournaments. They had three events in the same week, where we had only one event. We wanted to spread the tennis world, making it so we don’t have to play each other all the time. At that time you played one Williams one week, you played both Williams next week, then you had Davenport, Seles and Capriati waiting. So it was pretty hard. Where the men can divide themselves. Like Nadal played Queen's before Wimbledon, and Federer played Halle. They don’t have to face each all the time. At our time it wasn’t like that. I don’t know the way it is today, but I think it’s still a little bit of the same problem, that you have to play the same players over and over again. Get more tournaments and make it bigger.


Are you looking forward to the Family Circle Cup exhibition?

I’m excited to go back to Charleston. It’s been a little while since the last time I played there. To be on the same court as greats like Martina Navratilova and Chris Evert, I think it’s pretty cool.


Martina Navratilova was on ‘Dancing with the Stars’. Did you get to watch?

No, I didn’t see that. But I heard that she was doing it. Right now I’m not watching much TV.


You’re very competitive even now, even when playing exos. Is this competitive nature a gift, a burden, something else?


Yes, I got the competitiveness from my mom. It’s always been very competitive in the family. Everything I do today, whatever I do, I still want to do it well. Now we started playing doubles a little bit as well. And same thing with my husband. We share and enjoy, but when we play—play cards, play backgammon, whatever—it’s like a competition. I think everybody is competitive in the bottom of their heart. You need some kind of drive to get motivated.


As a coach if you could give only two or three tips, what would they be?


Be a student of the game, be dedicated and, most importantly, enjoy it.

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