Comebacks can be tricky in tennis. Monica Seles and Jennifer Capriati managed to pull theirs off with no real trouble. Bjorn Borg crashed and burned when he tried it.
The tennis world was shocked at the end of 2002 when Martina Hingis hung up her racket at the age of 22, saying she needed time for both her mind and her body to heal. But in sports, time marches on, showing little sympathy for those who stand still. So Hingis' decision to return to tennis after three full years away from the tour was greeted with some skepticism.
Hingis left tennis after undergoing surgery on both ankles, and because of recurring foot problems. But many of her critics also claimed at the time it was because she could no longer handle the power of the Williams sisters and the other big hitters who were beginning to dominate the sport. Asked in July 2005 if Hingis had what it takes to compete in today's game, no less an expert than Billy Jean King replied, "Not sure. That's a question mark."
Ironically, King made the comments while watching Hingis play doubles in a World Team Tennis match in Boston. Coming up moments later was an eagerly awaited singles match between Hingis and the woman she was named after, Martina Navratilova. It was a much publicized first meeting of two of the sport's legends, but the match never lived up to the hype. Hingis won 5-0, bageling the then 48-year-old Navratilova with ease. It was probably more of a taste of things to come than anybody knew at the time.
Hingis did return to the main tennis tour and has now completed her first year of competition, having played in 20 tournaments crisscrossing the globe from Australia to Madrid. She lost 19 of her matches, but won an amazing 53 of them. She won two tournaments, got to two other finals, reached the quarter finals of two majors and captured a grand slam mixed doubles title. She even wound up among the eight women who qualified for the year end championships.
Article comments
1 - Jason
I used to hate Martina Hingis, but during her latter first career years I started to appreciate her on court guile and cleverness. During the 2006 season I enjoyed watching her the most because she can do so many different things with the ball instead of bang it like a cave-woman. She is so good at drawing her opponents errors for the most of her points. However, she will need to learn to create her own power, especially on her backhand, so that she can take the points for herself instead of wait for her opponent to hit it out. Improving her serve is also important. Her fitness should be there in 2007. If she wants to win a grand slam she can't dissapear for a set like she did in Madrid. She will never overpower her opponents but there is a difference between overpowering and hitting the ball hard enough so that they can't overpower her, and I think she's almost there with strenghthening her shots. Her serve had been showing improvement since the Zurich tournament.
2 - Jarrod
I've always been a fan of Martina Hingis. I think alot of the backlash from the media and the public came with her performance at the French Open.... but people seemed to forget she is a teenager, acting like a teenager only she had camaras watching her. I've enjoyed every second of her being back on tour.
3 - Richard
I know it's two months later, but I just stumbled across this terrific assessment of Hings's 2006 season. Well written and fair. Nicely done.
I was not a Martina Hingis fan prior to her comeback. In fact, I wasn't even a tennis fan prior to her comeback. But the birth of my interest in tennis coincided with her return to the tour. Needless to say, I am now completely obsessed with BOTH tennis AND Martina Hingis. Simply put, I smile a lot while watching her play, and this is due in no small part to the clear and obvious joy she gets in playing.
Thank you, Tony, for a beautifully written piece.