I am excited.  She was never close to my fav player, but I used to enjoy watching her play.  When you look at how small she is compared to the Williams sisters, Russians etc it is amazing the majors she won in such a short career.  I wish her well and it brings more excitement to the woman's game.  I don't think she will ever win a major again though and I also doubt she will be wearing Nike shoes.

VSandhi20 wrote:

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Nike? i thought it was some italian company who made the shoes?

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It was of course, I was just testing to see if anyone would see that obvious typo. lol.  It was Sergio Tacchini shoes that did her in.  Thanks for making my blush!

I wish her the best of luck. I just hope it`s not a huge disappointment for her like in Pattaya City this year. Her current singles ranking is listed as 9999, but that`s irrelevant. It`ll be great to see her back - even better for me because I never saw her when she was at her peak.

I think that it's fantastic that Martina Hingis has returned. She was always one of my favourite players and she had some fantastic battles against the Williams sisters. Her game style of strategy, speed around the court and different tactics to outmanouevere opponents such as using different spins and different angles will be a refreshing change to the all-out power play which dominates women's tennis. Martina is currently ranked so low that she'll have to rely at first on wildcards like the one to the Aussie Open to compete in WTA tournaments, but they shouldn't be in short supply as she's a legend in her own right. However, she might not be playing in the Aussie Open as the article announcing her return stated that it would happen sometime in 2006.

My big worry is that her serve will be too weak to stand up to the monstrous returns of the likes of Davenport, Clijsters and Sharapova who all like to dominate the point from shot 1. I'd love to see a Sharapova - Hingis match though, if Hingis returns to something like her best form it would be a great contest.

She's not bad looking either so will add even more glamour to the women's game

 Martina confirms she will  accept a wildcard into the Australian Open:

THE Australian Open has scored an early advantage with assurances from Switzerland that Martina Hingis will take a wild-card into the first Grand Slam of the season.

Even tournament officials were conceding that it would be almost impossible to surpass last January's event, when record crowds lapped up Lleyton Hewitt's progress to the final and Alicia Molik's appearance in the last eight.

But the presence this January of Hingis, three-time champion at Melbourne Park, guarantees enormous interest again as the 25-year-old Swiss attempts a return to the top level after a break of more than three years.

When Hingis announced her comeback this month, without specifics, she said: "It's going to be great - four more weeks to go, probably, till I play my first tournament."

In Zurich yesterday, one of Switzerland's most respected tennis journalists quoted Hingis's manager, Mario Widmer, as saying she would definitely play at the Australian Open, which starts on January 16.

Tennis Australia, which has agreed to give Hingis a wild-card if she asks for one, was unable to confirm yesterday that the star attraction was on her way.

A spokesman said TA was awaiting confirmation, with "fingers crossed".

According to Widmer, the player's schedule for the Australian summer will be announced "at Christmas".

Tournament director of the Sydney International, Craig Watson, said he would offer Hingis a wild-card into the tournament she has won three times already.

Last weekend, Hingis played against her former doubles partner and fellow early retiree, Anna Kournikova, at an exhibition in Rio de Janeiro.

Hingis led 6-1 1-0 when the Russian was forced to quit with a bad case of blisters on her right hand.

Hingis, who has won five Grand Slam singles titles, made a tentative return to the WTA Tour last February but lost in the first round of the Thailand Open to Germany's Marlene Weingartner.

Her last match before a series of injuries to her feet brought her stellar career to a premature end was at Filderstadt in 2002, when she lost in the second round to Russia's Elena Dementieva.

Earlier this month, Hingis committed to a full 2006 season.

She said she was willing to "take the risk" of sustaining further injuries. "With every job, you have to be willing to pay some kind of price," Hingis said. "You have to be willing to play with pain to a certain level. The question is how much you can take."

Hingis made her first visit to the Australian Open in 1995, then reached the final six years running from 1997, a sequence beginning with a hat-trick of titles.

Her win-loss record at Melbourne Park stands at 44-5.

Another player making a fresh start here, Jelena Dokic, yesterday won her first match in Australia in four years with a straight sets win in the Australian Open wild-card play-off at Melbourne Park.

The former world No.4 overpowered Victorian Beti Sekulovski 6-2 7-6 to move through to the second round.

Dokic, more relaxed and slowly regaining fitness, showed glimpses of her skills. Occasionally let down by double faults and loose shots, the 22-year-old nevertheless held firm in the second set tiebreaker after the pair had traded service breaks.

Reunited with former Fed Cup captain Lesley Bowrey, who was courtside yesterday, Dokic said she needed to work hard to regain her form but she was feeling much more comfortable after 10 days back in Australia.

"I was a little bit nervous. I haven't played matches in a really long time (her last tournament was in Italy in August)," Dokic said.

"There are some things I need to improve on but I expected not to play so well in the first match.

"I think match play will help."

MARTINA Hingis, the youngest ever world No. 1, has set her sights on tackling tennis' biggest young wonder, Maria Sharapova, at the Gold Coast event where she will make her comeback on New Year's Day.

"When people ask me who I really want to play, I always say Sharapova," Hingis said. "First, because she's the one I haven't played, but also because she's won Wimbledon and been the world No. 1 herself."

Hingis' confirmation that she will participate at the Royal Pines event, where Sharapova is a confirmed starter, has raised the possibility of a mouth-watering comeback match. Should the two women share a match court on the Gold Coast, it could well have a long-term effect on the season's events.

The Swiss also confirmed yesterday that she would play at the Sydney International a week later before heading to Melbourne for the Australian Open.

Officials at Melbourne Park, who confirmed that Hingis will be given a wildcard for the Open, argued that she will add some "intrigue".

"I'm very excited to be making my return to competitive tennis in Australia," Hingis said. "I have always felt at home on the Australian courts. I know that I'll get some tough matches."

Regarding Elena, I have no idea but I`ll see if I can find out if there`s been any withdrawals yet.