The following summer, she was the 16-year-old ladies' singles champion, and the summer after that, at the grand old age of 18, she was a doubles winner again, that time in partnership with Jana Novotna. After all those years, Hingis now has an opportunity this summer to lift the title for a third time, with the Swiss and her Indian partner Sania Mirza through into the semifinals, where they will play the all-American pair of Raquel Kops-Jones and Abigail Spears.
The top seeds at the All-England Club, Hingis and Mirza are currently in second place in the Road To Singapore, behind America's Bethanie Mattek-Sands and Lucie Safarova of the Czech Republic, whose titles at the Australian Open and Roland Garros had put them halfway to the calendar Grand Slam, but who are out of Wimbledon. Victory at Wimbledon would leave Hingis and Mirza very well placed to be at the BNP Paribas WTA Finals Singapore presented by SC Global.
"It would be awesome to win this doubles title. That's what we are here for. We are the No.1 seeds. So that's obviously the main goal to go as far as possible into the draw. We have been playing well so far. How do I compare my singles and doubles titles at Wimbledon? Of course, playing singles was always more demanding, but I always said that I was a better doubles player than I was singles player. It felt easier and more natural for me, and you only had half the court to cover," Hingis told wtatennis.com. "I used to kind of joke about it, but I think now I realize that it was actually true. That shows now that I'm able to play doubles. But it's not only about hitting the ball hard, but about finesse and strategy. It's more about placement. It doesn't make much sense if you hit the ball hard but if it goes straight at the racket of the opponent. These days, everyone can put the ball away."
It was only in March that Hingis and Mirza formed their partnership, and they couldn't have had a better start to their time together on court, winning their first three tournaments on the cement of Indian Wells and Miami, and then on the clay of Charleston. They haven't won a tournament since. But where better to hold another trophy than at the All-England Club? "The more time that Sania and I have spent with each other, the more we have learned about each other," said Hingis. "But you have to keep on working at a doubles relationship. Like any other relationship, the moment you stop working on it, that's when you fail. To win Grand Slams, to win any tournaments, you have to be able to communicate and you also need some chemistry."
"It would be awesome to win this doubles title. That's what we are here for. We are the No.1 seeds. So that's obviously the main goal to go as far as possible into the draw. We have been playing well so far. How do I compare my singles and doubles titles at Wimbledon? Of course, playing singles was always more demanding, but I always said that I was a better doubles player than I was singles player. It felt easier and more natural for me, and you only had half the court to cover," Hingis told wtatennis.com. "I used to kind of joke about it, but I think now I realize that it was actually true. That shows now that I'm able to play doubles. But it's not only about hitting the ball hard, but about finesse and strategy. It's more about placement. It doesn't make much sense if you hit the ball hard but if it goes straight at the racket of the opponent. These days, everyone can put the ball away."
It was only in March that Hingis and Mirza formed their partnership, and they couldn't have had a better start to their time together on court, winning their first three tournaments on the cement of Indian Wells and Miami, and then on the clay of Charleston. They haven't won a tournament since. But where better to hold another trophy than at the All-England Club? "The more time that Sania and I have spent with each other, the more we have learned about each other," said Hingis. "But you have to keep on working at a doubles relationship. Like any other relationship, the moment you stop working on it, that's when you fail. To win Grand Slams, to win any tournaments, you have to be able to communicate and you also need some chemistry."
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