Posted on 12/02/2005 5:52:21 PM PST by beyond the sea
Women's tennis has yet another comeback tale after the announcement by Martina Hingis that she plans to return to the tour next year.
She was only 22 when foot injuries and slumping results caused her to retire early in 2003. It was a surprising, depressing end to a career that peaked very early, with Hingis becoming both the youngest No. 1 player in history and winning all five of her Grand Slam singles titles before her 19th birthday.
Now, at age 25, the Swiss woman has decided that she is fit and well-adjusted enough to plunge back into the brightly lit fishbowl of the women's circuit and try to swim with the generally younger, generally more powerful set.
"I was never happy that my injuries cut my career short and ultimately forced my decision to step away from tennis," Hingis said Tuesday in a statement. "I have enjoyed my time away from the court, a period that has allowed me to experience a different side of life. However, I miss the game and the challenge of competing at the highest level of tennis, and I want to gauge whether I can stay healthy and compete against today's top players."
(Excerpt) Read more at nytimes.com ...
ping
Am pleased to read this. I've missed watching her. I hope she has been getting stronger in the interim, at least enough to handle the bigger women.
Gabriella Sabatini 
Martina 
Kournikova & Hingus
Kournikova 
If she can stay injury-free, she'll be world number one again within a year.
Thanks for mentioning Goolagong. Haven't read of her in years, but always thought she was a good player.
I like Hingis too...my top favorites are Chris Everett and Steffi Graff.
Steffi is the top women's tennis player over all others, IMHO.
Strange ............. you and I have the same two favorites on the women's side.
Rod Laver was my favorite on the men's.
I'll tell you who else I really liked (you and I seem to like the girls who think and move beautifully on the court). I thought Hana Mandlikova had a nice game too. I always thought she would do a little better.
***
Now with Maria Sharapova growing two more inches the past year, if she ever adapts to her added height she's going to be really tough to beat.
I still think that with the rules of tennis, the height of the net and the two serves, the taller player has a huge and almost unfair advantage.
***
Pretty:
http://www.sexysharapova.com/images/5.jpg
I'm pretty sure that you are correctamundo! But I love her sweet little intelligent game. But, she needs a better second serve.......and very much more conditioning.
I don't think she really can pull this off ........... but it would be cool.
Hmmm. My favorite
Hingis match was with Steffi
at the French Open.
They both played hard, but
Hingis couldn't take the heat
and completely flipped.
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... Hingis served for the match at 5-4 in the second set but could not hang on, and the Roland Garros crowd jeered and whistled as the 18-year-old from Switzerland repeatedly battled with the umpire and linesmen. ...
Hingis, who lost her second French Open final in three year, received a warning and was penalized a point for several outbursts, and was frequently booed by the center court fans.
Graf, who was playing her first Grand Slam final since winning the French, Wimbledon and the U.S. Open in 1996, had all the sympathy on her side.
"Steffi, Steffi," the crowd chanted as the German kept coming back throughout the first two sets, against the Swiss star who dislodged her from the No. 1 ranking in March 1997.
Hingis was seeking the only Grand Slam title still missing in her collection, but she ran into a highly motivated Graf, who had been battling injuries for three years.
Hingis, who broke into tears after the match, walked off the court [!] after shaking Graf's hand, to the jeers and whistles of the French crowd. But she returned, still in tears and sobbing in the arms of her mother, Melanie Molitor.
Hingis was up a break twice in the second set and was serving for the match at 5-4 but could not close the match. ...
Hingis got a warning in the third game for smashing her racket to the ground and breaking it. She was penalized a point in the second after questioning a call and walking over to Graf's side [!] of the court.
Hingis, who ended Graf's record 377-week reign as No. 1, asked for the umpire to come down and show her the mark. The call stood. Hingis then walked to Graf's side of the net to point at what she thought was a mark inside the court. The call still stood.
Hingis, up 2-0 in the set, then sat in her chair and asked for the supervisor. There was no change in the call and Hingis was penalized a point for a court violation, giving graf a 30-0 lead in a game she won for 2-1.
There was more arguing in the next game, with Graf getting a call against her reversed. Knowing that another outburst could cause her to be defaulted, Hingis stayed calm and blasted a passing shot to take a 3-1 lead.
The crowd was again loudly behind Graf as she broke back in the sixth game, hitting a forehand to the corner that Hingis could not get back over the net. Graf held serve for 4-3 before one of the most exhilarating points of the match.
Graf and Hingis exchanged a spectacular array of drop shots and lobs that ended with Graf firing a simple smash into the net, and Hingis pulled even at 4-4.
A backhand winner put Hingis a break up and let her serve for the match, but she quickly faced double-break point. She saved one but netted a drop-shot attempt and Graf was back at 5-5. Graf won the next game at love and broke Hingis again to win the set.
Graf took the first game of the third before both players took a break. Hingis came out much later, with a new outfit and a new hairstyle, drawing more boos and whistles. [?!]
With Hingis looking dispirited, Graf whipped to a 3-0 lead. She dropped her serve in the fifth game, but broke right back to end any hopes Hingis might have had of coming back.
[Graf edges Hingis, captures sixth and 'last' French title (1999 French Open)]
However, that little Beligan player whose name escapes me has proved since that you don't need brute force to win matches.
On the men's side, my favourite current players are Federer (the best I've ever seen), Nadal, Agassi and Andy Murray (just because he is British.)
Past champs I liked watching were Lendl, Connors and McEnroe - especially when they played each other. You'd be hard-pressed to find three guys who hated each other more.
The French are quite disabled in the cooth department.
She's fabulous, but I think she ran into injuries this year.
There is also Kim Clisters from Belgium, a tough little hard worker!
I always loved listening to her play tennis!
ARRRGGHH!!
The giant forehead is back!!
:-P
ROFL!!!! You are so right!
You know......... if Jimmy Connors would have quit trying to force things so often, coming to the net and hitting the ball so darn close to the net with so very little margin of error, if he would have just come to the net a few of those times and punched the ball back comfortably away from his oppponent, I think he would have won quite a lot more. But that was Jimmy.
By the way, remember that great U.S. Open when he was pretty darn old a few years ago!!!? Amazing.
McEnroe was a poet on the court, and everyone can say what they want about his screaming and yammering at the officials, he was RIGHT nearly every time he opened his arrogant mouth. He had/has eyes like a hawk! I loved it. There is NOTHING more infuriating to a great athlete/tennis player than to have your excellent work ruined by some incompetent line judge or umpire.
There............ I feel better!
;-)
LOL ........... I think. Martina was rather silent wasn't she. She merely purred.
Best match ever - McEnroe vs Borg at Wimbledon. The one with the tiebreak which went on forever.
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