Nostalgia: ‘Swiss Miss’ Martina Hingis

Martina Hingis, 1997

Martina Hingis was always destined for greatness, it seems. It’s known that her mother, Melanie Molitorová, had decided that her daughter would be a tennis player when her daughter was still in her womb.

It was this dedication to the game that led to Molitorova naming her daughter after another legend in the women’s game – Martina Navratilova. So yes, it was always destined that Martina Hingis would be great, but nobody could have guessed the impact she would make on the game, an impact which is fondly remembered by tennis fans all around the world even today, and hence it was only fitting that she would become one of the youngest players to enter into the International Tennis Hall of Fame (on July 13, 2013).

Aged just 32 (and retired), Hingis proudly boasts through her matches in World Team Tennis how, if she was still playing today, she would surely continue to contest in the higher echelons of the game.

While 16 years have gone by since her first Grand Slam title (Doubles 1996 Wimbledon with Sukova, youngest Grand Slam champion of all time), her achievements during her prime, which was sadly only during her early professional with most of the success achieved during her teens, are still recalled memorably.

From 1996-2002, she was a constant fixture at the deep end of tournaments and finished each year in the top 10. But, it would be from 1997-2001 where Hingis had one of the most dominating periods in tennis, with her lowest year-end rank being world no. 2, five Grand Slam titles (three in 1997 alone), and a remarkable win loss record of 280-41 in this period (71-5 in 1997).

Hingis announced herself to the world as someone to take notice of.

Known for her agility and variety of shots, angles and changes of pace, Hingis brought refreshment to a then non-entertaining game of tennis. Her comments off-court had as much impact as her exploits on court, and while many disapproved of these comments, nobody could deny the entertainment value it brought to the game.

Her rivalries with the Williams sisters, Graf , Mauresmo and even her doubles partner and fellow ‘Spice Girl of Tennis’ Anna Kournikova were all supported by honest comments from Hingis in the interview room. Thus, Hingis brought a new type of attention to tennis, and best of all, it was accompanied by her results on court.

Then came 2002, a decent season by normal tennis standards, but from a Hingis perspective, less than satisfactory. Ending the year ranked world no. 10, Hingis made a surprising decision of retiring at the young age of 22, citing injuries and pain. During this segment of her tennis career, Hingis won 40 singles titles and 36 doubles events. She had held the world no. 1 singles ranking for a total of 209 weeks. Hence, it was even more surprising considering Hingis’ age and the potential she showed.

But it would not be the end of Hingis’s career. In 2006, Hingis made a comeback. This comeback, however, proved to be not as successful as after a mediocre two years, Hingis tested positive for a banned substance and subsequently announced her retirement while maintaining complete innocence. While a suitable way to end her career (considering the media attention she always received), it was much more anti-climatic.

This did not deter Hingis from tennis however. Post-career Hingis is a frequent player in World Team Tennis and the Legends event in Grand Slams. Much more recently though, she returned to tennis by agreeing to coach Russian Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova, and was welcomed eagerly by the tennis community.

Now regularly seen in WTA tournaments and matches, Hingis in a way has returned, even though in a different avatar, that of a coach.

Country-switching, breaking records, youngest ever, comments, fights, Grand Slams, number 1, wins, drug charges, entertainment, game, versatility , winners, classics, losses, fist-pumps, retirements, beauty, dedication, perseverance, the list truly goes on and on – Martina Hingis’s career and her personality always had us enraptured and hence when it was announced she would be leading the Class of 2013 in the International Tennis Hall Of Fame, the only shock factor for tennis fans was that it happened this soon, not that it happened.

During her speech, Hingis said: “When I was a little girl, I didn’t know there was a Hall of Fame.” Well, even if we tennis fans knew it existed or not, we always knew that one day the Swiss Miss Martina Hingis would be at a greatly deserving place surrounded by fellow legends of the game.