Martina Hingis Biography

Martina Hingis (b. September 30, 1980, in Košice, Czechoslovakia) is a former World No. 1 woman tennis player from Switzerland. During her career, she won five Grand Slam singles titles (three Australian Open, one Wimbledon, and one US Open). She also won nine Grand Slam women's doubles titles, and captured all four of the Grand Slam women's doubles crowns in 1998. She set a series of "youngest-ever" records; however, in the end injuries ended her playing career at the relatively young age of 22. On November 29, 2005, at the age of 25, Hingis announced that she would return to the WTA tour after a four year absence.

Both of Hingis' parents — Slovak Karol Hingis and Moravian Melánie Molitorová — were tennis players (her mother was once ranked the No. 10 woman player in Czechoslovakia). They named their daughter 'Martina' (originally Martina Hingisová Molitorová) after Martina Navrátilová. Hingis' parents divorced when she was a young child, after which she moved with her mother to Moravia for a short period. From there they went to Switzerland, which became Hingis' home.

Hingis began hitting tennis balls at home when she was just two years old, and entered her first tournament at the age of four. In 1993, Hingis became the youngest-ever player to win a Grand Slam junior title when she won the girls' singles at the French Open at the age of 12. In 1994, she retained her French Open junior title, won the girls' singles title at Wimbledon, and was ranked the World No. 1 junior player.

She made her debut on the professional tour in October 1994, two weeks after her 14th birthday. In 1995, she became the youngest player to win a match at a Grand Slam tournament when she advanced to the second round at the Australian Open.

Hingis, who gained the nickname of the "Swiss Miss" on the tour, quickly won over crowds with her attractive playing style. She lacked the outright power of many of her strongest opponents, but compensated for this with fluent, precise groundstrokes, skill at the net, and outstanding shot selection. Her bright, bubbly demeanour in public helped make her a favourite with tennis fans. Hingis was twice rated among FHM magazine's 100 sexiest women, and her doubles partnership with tennis' all-time glamour girl Anna Kournikova in the late-1990s and early-2000s attracted a great deal of attention.

In 1996, Hingis became the youngest-ever Wimbledon champion when she partnered Helena Suková to win the women's doubles title aged 15 years and 9 months. She also won her first professional singles that year at Filderstadt, Germany. She reached the singles semi-finals at the 1996 US Open, and she lost to Steffi Graf in a five-set final at the year-end WTA Tour Championships.

In January 1997, Hingis became the youngest Grand Slam singles winner in the 20th century by winning the Australian Open aged 16 years and 3 months. In March, she became the youngest-ever player to attain the World No. 1 ranking. And in July, she became the youngest singles champion at Wimbledon since Lottie Dod in 1887. She went on to win the US Open title by defeating another up-and-coming star, Venus Williams, in the final. The only Grand Slam singles title she failed to win that year was the French Open, where she lost in the final to Iva Majoli.

In 1998, Hingis won all four of the Grand Slam women's doubles titles (Australian Open with Mirjana Lucic, and the other three events partnering Jana Novotná), and became only the third woman to simultaneously hold the No. 1 ranking in both singles and doubles. She also retained her Australian Open singles title by beating Conchita Martínez in straight sets in the final, and lost in the final of the US Open to Lindsay Davenport. Davenport ended an 80-week stretch Hingis' had enjoyed as the No. 1 single player in October 1998, but Hingis ended the year by beating Davenport in the final of the Tour Championships.

1999 saw Hingis win her third successive Australian Open singles crown. She then reached the French Open final and was three points away from victory in the second set against Steffi Graf, but ended up losing 4-6, 7-5, 6-2. Hingis bounced back from the experience to reach her third consecutive US Open final, where she lost to Serena Williams. Hingis won a total of seven singles titles that year and reclaimed the No. 1 singles ranking.

Hingis' three-year stranglehold on the Australian Open singles title came to an end in 2000 when she lost in the final to Lindsay Davenport 6-1, 7-5. Though she won no Grand Slams that year, she held on to the No. 1 ranking following nine tournament wins including the Tour Championships.

Hingis reached her fifth consecutive Australian Open final in 2001, where she lost to Jennifer Capriati 6-4, 6-3. She briefly ended her coaching relationships with her mother Melanie early in the year, but had a change of heart two months later just before the French Open. Hingis underwent surgery on her right ankle in October 2001.

Coming back from injury, Hingis reached a sixth straight Australian Open final at the start of 2002, and again faced Capriati. But having led by a set and 4-0 (and even having a few match points), Hingis went on to lose 4-6, 7-6, 6-2. In May 2002, she needed another ankle operation, this time on her left ankle. After that she continued to struggle with injuries and was never able to recapture her best form. Her doctors insisted that she was able to play and many believe that her losses were more a result of the new power game (as played by Davenport, Venus Williams, Serena Williams, Jennifer Capriati, etc.) passing her by than any debilitating physical ailments.

In 2005, TENNIS Magazine put her in 22nd place in its list of 40 Greatest Players of the TENNIS era.

In 2003, at the age of 22, Hingis announced her retirement from tennis after losing her battle with severe ankle problems, dwindling confidence and results. During her career, she had won 40 singles titles and 36 doubles events. She held the World No. 1 singles ranking for a total of 209 weeks.

In February 2005 Hingis made an unsuccessful return to competition at an event in Pattaya, Thailand, where she lost to Germany's Marlene Weingartner in the first round. After the loss, she claimed that she had no further plans to attempt a comeback.

Hingis resurfaced in July 2005, playing singles, doubles, and mixed doubles in World Team Tennis. She produced a 18-1 record while playing for the New York Sportimes, leading them to a championship victory, as well as being named MVP of the tournament. During the season she had singles wins over two top 100 players, and also shut out Martina Navratilova in singles competition on July 7. These promising results again fueled speculation that Hingis was indeed considering a return to the WTA Tour.

On November 29, 2005, Hingis announced that she would be making a full-time comeback to the WTA Tour in 2006.

"I was never happy my injuries cut my career short and ultimately forced my decision to step away from tennis. 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."

Martina begins her comeback in the first round of the Mondial Australian Women's Hardcourt tournament. She faces Maria Vento-Kabchi from Venezuala in round one.