FORMER world No. 1 Martina Hingis has ruled out making a comeback in singles but says her immediate plans include a hectic Australian schedule.
Hingis, 33, this year returned to the WTA Tour as a doubles player, was inducted into the International Tennis Hall of Fame at Newport, Rhode Island, and has had the tennis world whispering rumours she could make another comeback.
But Hingis, who will return to Adelaide's World Tennis Challenge in January, was firm in saying there would be no return to the women's circuit in the singles draws.
"I am not looking too far ahead,'' Hingis said.
"I will not be making a singles comeback.
"But I do still enjoy competing and there were a lot of positives from playing doubles in 2013.
"I am in decent shape at the moment and we'll see how I feel after the Auckland, Hobart and the Australian Open Legends (event).''
Hingis joined the Hall of Fame as one of the most prominent players of the modern era. She was the natural bridge between Steffi Graf and the Williams sisters, but also one who defied her time.
Where others charged ahead by increasing power and athleticism, Hingis played with grace and guile, a player whose anachronism was one of her most captivating features.
But there was always more to Hingis than the smiling and talented all-courter with the pretty game.
There were tantrums when she lost, but those could be excused for her youth at the time.
The big bomb shell came in 2007, when she was in the middle of a comeback from retirement and tested positive for traces of cocaine and received a two-year ban from the game.
Rather than contest the charge, Hingis decided to retire again, despite maintaining she had never taken any illicit drugs and reportedly had a hair follicle test that backed her up.
At the end of her two-year suspension, during which she was not even allowed to be a spectator at the majors, Hingis remained indignant.
This year, on the brink of being inducted to the Hall of Fame, there were more uncomfortable headlines when her husband, from whom she is estranged, accused her of both being unfaithful and beating him up.
His version of events has not been proven, nor have charges been laid, but regardless, it suggests Hingis has had to dealt with turbulent times.
For all of that, still strikes the ball crisply, has the smile back in various events around the world and looks fit enough to challenge for another major.
Serena Williams, who still monsters the opposition when she is fit, is just one year her junior.
How would Hingis, at 33, fare against the barnstorming teenager who broke all sorts of youngest-ever records in the late 1990s?
She won her five Grand Slam titles between 1997 and 1999 - including three Australian Open crowns, but was also considered the comeback story of the year when she finished the 2006 season at world No.7 after having been retired for three years.
Hingis had been wracked by injuries leading up to her first retirement, but says she is whole again now.
By and large, she would be the same player. Who would win, young or old?
"Ha! Good question,'' she said.
"I still have the same court sense and I am in decent shape.
"But back then I was more tournament fit so maybe `A Little More Energy' v `A Little Wiser Today'.
"It would be a three-setter."
The more pressing question surrounding Hingis' game is this: would it hold up today?
As much as she recognises the changing face of women's tennis, Hingis believes there's still room for finesse and counterpunch in the game.
"It's the No.1 sport for women,'' she said.
"It's more competitive, the players are stronger and the tour is getting deeper.
"(But) I still think there's room for that (finesse and touch).
"But being powerful or at least being able to cope with power is important.''
Hingis, a childhood prodigy who impressed coaches by the time she was five, finds it difficult to rate each part of her career.
She said the phases - breaking through, dominating the game, and returning from injury - had different joys and hurdles.
"Each time the experience was slightly different,'' she said.
"Coming through the first time is new and exciting.
"Winning a lot feels pretty good, too, and coming back I realised how much I missed it.
"It's tough to say that I liked it more at one time versus another.''
Hingis, like cricket's Shane Warne, appears to use the game as her refuge for a life that has at times been turbulent.
It is part of why she still draws crowds and will have people flock to Memorial Drive this summer. Hingis says she can't wait.
"Australia is a great place for tennis,'' she said.
"I did well here and the fans are really well educated and knowledgeable when it comes to tennis and other sports.''
As the Swiss Miss looks back at the dizzying heights, the crippling injuries and the off-court dramas - which included an episode of a stalker who had to face charges - she reckons she never fell out of love with the game.
"Tennis has always been a huge part of my life,'' Hingis said.
"It has given me so much and I hope to be able to give back to the sport and stay involved.
"I have no regrets, only much to be grateful for.''
heraldsun.com.au
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