MARTINA HINGIS!!! Swiss roll for 2006!!

Sally · Grand Slam Champion

RE: MARTINA HINGIS!!! Swiss roll for 2006!!

Sheddie · administrator

I agree, Henin might be a little more rusty though Martina has strained a hip muscle which could be a problem. Martina has been losing concentration mid-match quite a lot.

It should be a match reminscent of past decades, both players trying to out-manoeuvere each other using different tactics and approaching the net quite a lot, instead of just power-play slugging it out from the baseline. Henin at best has the better serve though her service rhythm may be a little off given that she's been inactive for so long.

Montana Doug · Futures qualifying

I doubt very much Hingis will win. In many ways I'd love her to, but Henin should be far too good even though she has been hurt etc. In six months it might be close, but not yet, I don't think Hingis is fit enough, in fact she hinted at that herself. Must be honest though, when I found out the draw it made me smile!

Sheddie · administrator

Sadly Hingis lost 6-3, 6-3, she wasn't able to cope with the power of Henin's groundstrokes. Henin said that Hingis' serve did cause her problems, she had trouble attacking it because it was so slow !!

I still think that the comeback looks promising: out for 3 years and then reach a tournament semi in your first event back. When Hingis has been back competing for a couple of months, I suspect that only the top 10 players will cause Hingis serious trouble. I wonder how long it will take Martina to get back into the top 100 ?

BBC report:

Justine Henin-Hardenne ensured Martina Hingis suffered a first-round exit at her latest comeback event, the Sydney International, on Monday.

French Open champion Henin-Hardenne beat the Swiss star 6-3 6-3 at the Australian Open warm-up competition.

Hingis lost her opening service game and struggled for pace as the Belgian attacked her slower second serves.

Henin-Hardenne is also on the comeback trail, having been out since October with a leg injury.

Five-time Grand Slam singles winner Hingis, who has been off the WTA Tour for three years, won three matches on the Gold Coast last week in her first full tournament back. But in her first match against a top-10 player she struggled against her opponent's groundstrokes.

However, she was upbeat about her progress so far and how it sets her up for the Australian Open.

"I chose to come (to Sydney) to know where I'm at," said Hingis. "I know what I'm aiming for now.

"It's good to know how I played, how the match went - she was at a different level.

"But if you want to play someone like Justine, a top-10 player, it's a different ball game."

Henin-Hardenne revealed that the Hingis serve had still posed problems.

"I had a little bit of trouble on the return. It's never been easy for me to return against a player who's serving pretty slowly," said the Belgian.

She added: "It's not easy to come back after three years of not playing. She's at a pretty good level now but she hasn't had a lot of matches.

"There is a lot of power in women's tennis now. That's a big difference from the time she played."

Sheddie · administrator

Hingis has got 30th seed Zvonereva in rd1. The Russian hasn't been in that great form so I think Hingis has got a great chance of an upset. Se could face Mary Pierce in rd3 which would be really tough

Sally · Grand Slam Champion

Hingis is just deluding herself says Cash

January 16, 2006

PAT Cash says Martina Hingis is "deluded" if she hopes to add to her grand slam collection -- and doubts she will be back in Australia this time next year.

Top coach Nick Bollettieri has his own misgivings, questioning if the comeback queen has the serve or court movement to cut it.

The "Swiss Miss" is making no bold predictions herself, but was more confident yesterday ahead of tomorrow's grand slam return against Russian Vera Zvonareva.

If Hingis was bothered by the 6-3 6-3 first-round loss to Justine Henin-Hardenne in Sydney last week, she wasn't showing it.

"She ended up winning the tournament, so I had the best player in the draw," Hingis said.

"I don't think it's such a shame to lose to the eventual champion.

"I think she showed me what it's all about being a top 10 player.

"Every match I start feeling the ball and the court and the anticipation start coming back."

Outspoken former Wimbledon champion Cash believes Hingis may have improved, but has questioned if she has the mental strength to beat the new generation.

Writing in England's Sunday Times, Cash said: "I cannot believe that [her power] will have changed in a three-year break. If she is ruthlessly out-hit by one of the more powerful players, then old demons are going to re-emerge.

"If Hingis expects to come back and start winning grand slam titles again, I am afraid she is deluded. But if she just feels the need to test herself again, there is nothing wrong with that, because she put enough into the game to deserve such an opportunity.

"Do I expect her to be playing in the Australian Open again this time next year? I would doubt that very much."

Bollettieri, who coached Hingis briefly in 1998, said: "The biggest factor in whether she will be able to come back or not will be her serve.

"If her serve hasn't improved, and she's up against a Mary Pierce, for example, Martina will be running for her life on every return of serve.

"The game is so much stronger now than when she left."

VSandhi20 · Futures qualifying

Martina won today, watched the match very clever volleys. give her time and her groundstrokes will more powerful than ever!!

Once again Congrats to Martina!! won 6-2(according to the BBC site, but had to be 6-1) 6-1.

She next plays Emile Laine of Finland.

Sally · Grand Slam Champion

MELBOURNE: Mary Pierce's resurgence from No,29 to five in women's rankings has inspired Martina Hingis and Jelena Dokic in their returns from injury.

That sits well with Pierce, the 31-year-old veteran who has had to endure ankle, shoulder adductor and thigh injuries, among others, in her career.

“Different emotions ... To have your peers be inspired by yourself,” Pierce said on Tuesday after her 6-1, 6-1 win over Australia's Nicole Pratt. Pierce was runner-up at the French Open and US Open last year and won two tournaments.

She won the Australian open in 1995 and is playing at Melbourne Park for the 13th season.

“I've been through difficult times and I've worked really hard,” said Pierce “I persevered. I never gave up. I guess it's a great thing if that can help others.”

Hingis and Dokic, both on comebacks after lengthy injury lay-offs, pointed to Pierce's success last year as motivation for their return to the circuit. Monica Seles, 32, has never officially retired but hasn't played a Grand Slam match since 2003.

She said Pierce's success has spurred her to begin training again, with a possible return to the circuit by the end of this year.

“Martina and I, we talk once in a while, Monica as well,” said Pierce. “We keep in touch. With Jelena, I've just seen her since I've been here in Melbourne, but we really haven't talked about that.”

Sally · Grand Slam Champion

From Sporting Life:

Martina Hingis made a head-turning start to her Australian Open campaign by knocking out a seed in the first round.

Her victim was Vera Zvonareva, the 21-year-old Russian who was seeded 30th but had her game picked apart by the three-time champion.

Hingis has reached the final on her last six appearances at Melbourne Park, winning her first three between 1997 and 1999 before finishing runner-up the next three years.

On Tuesday, she won 6-1 6-2 in highly impressive fashion, but quite rightly Hingis will keep her expectations grounded as she has only advanced as far as she did on her first appearance in 1995, as a 14-year-old.

Now 25, and back in the game after three years in retirement had her reaching for a racquet again, Hingis looked very much her former self against Zvonareva, making 17 winners and dominating an overawed opponent.

"It was beautiful to walk in there," said Hingis.

"Any time I come back into these grounds, it just feels amazing. Although it was still empty when I was practising, you could feel the atmosphere already of a grand slam.

"So many memories coming also back here, thinking about all the previous years."

Hingis will face Finland's Emma Laine in the second round, where another victory would set up a potential third-round clash with former champion and fifth seed Mary Pierce.

Sally · Grand Slam Champion

From Fox Sports:

THE game that won Martina Hingis five grand slam events, including three Australian Opens, returned to Rod Laver Arena last night to sound a loud warning to every player, not only in Melbourne but on the world tour.

It was as if the 25-year-old Hingis had never left Melbourne Park.

Her deep and clinical groundstrokes, intuitive shot selection and superb point construction demoralised the 30th seed Vera Zvonareva.

It left the embarrassing scoreline of 6-1 6-2 and a win for a player in only her fifth competition match after three years.

The 65-minute display returned every spectator in January 2006 back to January 2002 - the last time Hingis was here as a competitor and the year in which she reached the final for a sixth consecutive time before losing to Jennifer Capriati in three sets.

"It just feels great to be back here, thank you for the support," she told a capacity crowd last night.

"I just came out here the other day for practice and could already feel the atmosphere here from the previous years."

Her win injects maximum interest in this year's draw with Hingis, a wildcard, now alive and kicking in No.2 seed Kim Clijsters's half along with third seed Amelie Mauresmo, No.5 Mary Pierce and fellow Swiss Patty Schnyder, seeded No.7.

Clijsters has a bad hip, Mauresmo was unconvincing in her three-set win over the world No.103 Sun Tiantian from China yesterday after bowing out in her first match in Sydney last week, and Hingis holds a 2-1 career advantage over Schnyder, leaving Pierce - whose comeback last year inspired Hingis's in 2006 - as the only genuine threat.

The pair will meet in the third round if Hingis survives her next match against Finland's Emma Laine, ranked No.85 in the world and whom she has never played.

On Hingis's form last night, a win should be a piece of cake for the famous Swiss.

Hingis said she was driven by one fear before she stepped out onto the court.

"I so badly didn't want to lose first round here," she said. Why? Because of the special place she holds the Australian Open that she feels she knows every centimetre of the Rod Laver Rebound Ace surface.

"Otherwise you don't make six consecutive finals in a place like here."

Just in case Lleyton Hewitt was listening she had this to say.

"A lot of players say it's kind of a slow surface, this and that. But any time I come back into these grounds it just feels amazing."

Her ownership last night never allowed Zvonareva to settle. Hingis broke the 21-year-old's serve twice in the first set and twice again in the second while holding her own throughout.

She ran the Russian ragged, which was no mean feat since Zvonareva was a finalist in Auckland two weeks ago.

Before illness dropped her to No.29 in the world, the Russian was a top-15 player for two successive years.

"I didn't think it was necessarily easy tonight. I just played really well. I just didn't make many unforced errors and stuck to my strategy," Hingis said.

"I came here well prepared for the situation ... nearly 100 per cent physically as well as mentally."

But there was one person who was not completely satisfied with the Hingis time warp, her mother and coach Melanie Molitor back in Switzerland.

"She was really proud of me that I played really well strategically. But she always has some comments -'You could have done this, you could have done that'.''

Hingis was not sharing any of the post-match analysis, knowing other players read newspapers and listen to the television even though they say they don't.

"I won't tell. I'll try to do it next match," she said, laughing.

In the past Hingis has had troubles with the Williams sisters, who are in world No.1 Lindsay Davenport's half of the draw. But already Venus, seeded 10th, is gone and defending champion and 13th seed Serena, has big question marks over her head as well as bigger thighs, a legacy of not playing since September.

Sally · Grand Slam Champion

Calcutta: It’s no secret that Mahesh Bhupathi loves trying out different partners in mixed doubles.

He doesn’t only find efficient partners, Bhupathi has in the last few years showed a penchant for striking up high-profile partnerships. And more importantly, succeeding with quite a few of them, too. That he has won five mixed doubles crowns with five different partners tells its own story.

Take last year, for instance. It was with Frenchwoman Mary Pierce that Bhupathi conquered Wimbledon. Came the next Grand Slam, the US Open, Bhupathi chose Slovakian glamour girl Daniela Hantuchova and struck gold again.

It’s 2006 now and time for India’s most successful Grand Slam champion to ‘unearth’ a grand new partner. And who better than comeback girl Martina Hingis?

The Swiss Miss, who has just returned to competitive tennis after a three-year lay-off, had expressed interest to join forces with the Indian doubles ace about six-seven years ago. A suitable understanding, however, could not be worked out then.

So Bhupathi has taken the first available opportunity to pair up with the multiple Grand Slam champion after her much-hyped return to the circuit.

None of Bhupathi’s nine Grand Slam doubles titles (four in men’s and five in mixed) have been achieved at the Australian Open, so he’s eager to break the Melbourne jinx — either with Wesley Moodie or Hingis.

Leander Paes, meanwhile, will have to look for a new partner as well because Martina Navratilova won’t be playing in Melbourne. “I just came to know yesterday (Monday) that she has an injury and won’t be playing in the Open,” Paes said from Melbourne. The deadline for mixed doubles sign-in is Wednesday evening. So Paes doesn’t have much time to arrange a new partnership.

Even Sania Mirza, who got off to a fine start in singles on Tuesday, will be playing the mixed event, her partner being Stephen Huss — the Aussie who won the 2005 Wimbledon men’s doubles with South African Moodie (Bhupathi’s current men’s doubles partner).

In women’s doubles, Sania’s partner will be American Corina Morariu, who with Hingis were the No. 1 team in the world once. The name Morariu will also ring a bell — she is the one who battled cancer and made a pretty successful comeback to the tennis courts.

Sally · Grand Slam Champion

MARTINA Navratilova played tennis for so long that eventually she stopped competing with her own peers and found herself being confronted by the next generation, and then the next after that -- girls who grew up with her as their hero.

Incredibly, even though she's still only 25, Martina Hingis -- who was named after Navratilova -- is about to experience much the same feeling.

She will continue her ominously impressive comeback at the Open tomorrow against a little-known Czech girl Iveta Benesova, who admitted last night that the Swiss superstar had been her idol growing up and that she would consider it an honour to play against her.

The weirdest element of that is that Benesova -- a Czech, as Navratilova was when she began her long and illustrious career -- is 22, only three years Hingis's junior.

It is a pertinent reminder of just how young the Swiss Miss was when she began terrorising the women's circuit a decade ago.

Yesterday, she sent more tremors through the women's draw when she ruthlessly crushed Finland's Emma Laine 6-1 6-1 in double-quick time to move into the third round of the tournament in which she has reached the final six times for three titles.

Laine, 19, making only her second appearance in a grand slam, is ranked 85, theoretically putting her 264 places ahead of Hingis, who is starting from the bottom again after a three year absence. In reality, the gap was in reverse.

Hingis never gave the left-handed daughter of a winter Olympics ice hockey silver medallist the slightest look-in, dominating every aspect of a mercifully short encounter.

If she overcomes Benesova, who is ranked 42, her next opponent may be local girl Sam Stosur, if she survives that far.

For now, though, it is Benesova's turn to face the music -- and she's looking forward to it.

She said it had never crossed her mind that she might end up playing her one-time idol. "But it's really good that she's back," she said. "I really enjoy watching her. It's awesome. she"s back."

Drew · Jan 21, 2006

Miss Hingis wins again....excellent !!!!!!!

Hingis continues run in Melbourne

Hingis has dropped only 10 games in her three matches so farMartina Hingis booked her place in the fourth round of the Australian Open with a 6-4 6-1 win over Iveta Benesova of the Czech Republic.

The three-times former champion was briefly rattled in the first set when her 22-year-old opponent led 3-1.

But at 4-4, Benesova, who beat Mary Pierce on Thursday, produced an awful game featuring three double faults and Hingis needed no second invitation.

The former world number one now faces Samantha Stosur or Sybille Bammer.

Hingis, who has dropped only 10 games en route to the fourth round, insisted there was still work to be done on her game.

Sally · Grand Slam Champion

Martina Hingis has become a tennis tragic.

A successful return to the game she dominated as a teenager has turned the Swiss star into an obsessive.

And the girl who won three Australian Open titles before a three-year injury-enforced layoff has lured her large retinue of local fans back to centre court.

Hingis continued her remarkable return to grand slam tennis with a comprehensive 6-4 6-1 victory over Czech Iveta Benesova to reach the fourth round of the Open.

There was a time in the late 1990s when Hingis had a ho-hum attitude to the whole business, even of winning.

"Before if was, just another match, just another tournament," she said.

"Now I'm kind of sucking it up. I'm going back to my room and turning on the TV and watching tennis."

The gruelling routine of the airport-hotel-tennis court, which is the life of a touring pro, was finally capped by a debilitating foot injury and led Hingis to walk away from the game.

"I wanted to do something else, to experience some of the outside world," she said.

"For the first couple of months I was studying and busy with my horses but I love the game too much to cut off from it completely.

"But nothing has been as satisfying as being back on court."

Hingis made a tentative return to the game playing team tennis in the US and her form gave her the encouragement to announce a full-time return to the WTA tour last November.

"I was winning against girls who were ranked 70 in the world and I only trained two weeks for those tournaments so I thought, if I could cope with that and I trained harder, maybe..."

The major doubt was whether she would be able to trade blows with the power players who had hijacked the game during her sabbatical.

"That was the big doubt about my form, but I'm starting to feel a lot better, I feel my recovery is improving.

"The expectations are definitely growing with every match and I'm getting more confident," she said.

Hingis was on track for a probable showdown with Australian Samantha Stosur, who was to meet Austrian Sybille Bammer in her third round match on Saturday night.

Sally · Grand Slam Champion

Martina will play Aussie Samantha Stosur in the next round.