Ten Years Since US Open Title, Martina Hingis Reflects on Career
Posted by Aaress Lawless on Aug 29, 2007 | Print |
Ten years since she captured her only Grand Slam singles title at Flushing Meadows, a more poignant and steady champion has returned to the courts at the US Open.
Her season has not been all that she hoped for after her magnificent return last season after a four year hiatus, but a resolute Martina Hingis is not yet ready to close the book on 2007.
She won the Toray Pan Pacific Open at the start of the season in Tokyo, but her performance at Grand Slams is hardly comparable to her glory days a decade ago.
The year 1997 is the season that Martina Hingis will never forget; she nearly accomplished the Grand Slam, only a disappointing finish in the final of Roland Garros kept her out of the record books. The Swiss Miss has yet to win a title at the French Open.
Still, her life changed when she won the US Open, and although it was ten years ago, it occasionally feels only like yesterday.
“Sometimes it feels like yesterday, sometimes like a lifetime,” said Hingis on Tuesday. “I think when you wake up in the morning you feel really good, you feel like you’ve been on the tour forever. Also by the fans, the recognition I get, I was given over the years, the response has been tremendous. I walk into New York restaurants, people know me.”
Despite her relatively young age, Hingis is regarded as one of the Tour’s veterans, having played her finest tennis while many current players were still in third or fourth grade.
The atmosphere on the Tour has changed so much that the Swiss Miss feels as if her life is much different from the young starlets.
“I see the freshness, the hunger, all that,” reflected Martina. “That’s how I used to be. Sometimes the older you get, maybe sometimes priorities change. You look at life differently.”
As if her life were not complicated enough with mediocre results over the past couple of months, and a back and hip injury, Hingis spent the summer dealing with the aftermath of her breakup from fiance Radek Stepanek.
Around the time they ended their engagement, Hingis took two weeks off the Tour to recover physically and recharge her mental batteries.
“I had a really good two weeks of time off,” relished Hingis. “I pulled out of Toronto because of my hip and also getting things straight, just really getting my fitness back. That definitely helped me a lot to get the hunger and get the spirit back.”
However, despite her forty-three titles (including five singles Grand Slam titles), world number one ranking, and her remarkable comeback, Hingis said that she might have liked a chance to change one thing in her career.
“Maybe that French Open final,” laughed Hingis. “I wish I won that one.”
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