Open Target

To be still, to be quiet, would be unnatural for Martina Hingis.

And if her candor lands her in trouble, well, too bad.

“I’ve always been like that,” says Hingis, smiling the 18-year-old smile of the No. 1 female tennis player in the world. “It’s my personality, my charisma. And if I would lose that, it’s not me anymore.”

Hingis sparked a controversy at the Australian Open when the equally open Amelie Mauresmo of France announced during the January tournament that she was with her girlfriend, Sylvie Bourdon, and posed for pictures.

Before Hingis played Mauresmo in the Australian Open final, she told reporters, in Swiss-German, that the broad-shouldered Mauresmo was “half a man,” and mentioned Bourdon’s presence. Hingis tried to apologize to Mauresmo after winning the title in straight sets but then told Sports Illustrated she was uncomfortable with the couple’s displays of affection.

So, what should happen here, at the very next Grand Slam?

France’s new national heroine will play Hingis on Wednesday in the French Open’s second round.

When Mauresmo beat Hingis for the first time, at an indoor event in Paris in February, the crowd treated Hingis like the enemy. And that hostile reception could seem as nothing, compared to what awaits Hingis in the much-larger venue at Roland Garros.

“It wasn’t so important for me to play that tournament,” Hingis said. “For me, it wasn’t like a huge loss.

“But the crowd [Wednesday] will be a big issue. I expect it is going to be on center [court], so a huge crowd. It’s going to probably be more like a soccer match, which was also like the last time.”

The 18th-ranked Mauresmo--who missed being seeded by two places, which would have prevented an early meeting with Hingis--said nothing is different between them.

“It didn’t change compared with last time in my mind,” she said. “Well, since people are still talking about it, it still exists. My motivation will be at maximum. . . . The challenge will be different also. What is at stake is different. I think the conditions will be easier for me here than they were in Australia.”

Since the winter event in Paris, Mauresmo has failed to reach a final. Her best clay-court effort was at the Italian Open, where she lost in the semifinals to Mary Pierce. She was hampered by a thigh injury at the German Open earlier this month.

Monday, Hingis defeated Amanda Hopmans of the Netherlands, 6-1, 6-4, in the first round. Several hours later, Mauresmo beat Tara Snyder, 6-3, 6-3. Next is the third match between Hingis and Mauresmo in 1999. The Swiss teenager is relishing the prospect of playing in front of a vocal crowd.

“I love it,” she said. “I can’t play if there is no one watching.”

Certainly, she attempts to have a response for every challenge, on and off the court. In March, before the Indian Wells tournament, she posed for photos in a short black dress and high heels, carefully walking across the grounds for an interview. A couple of teenage boys noticed her and one said, “Who are you? What’s your name again?”

Hingis, not missing a beat, shot back, “You won’t forget who I am next time.”

At Indian Wells, Hingis was coming off the Paris match, which meant she had to revisit the Mauresmo episode of Australia.

“I was ready for those questions because we talked a lot about what happened in Australia,” she said. “I have nothing to regret. I’m not sorry about anything I said. I have nothing to take away.

“I don’t think it did take anything away from anybody because that’s what I think. As long as nothing affects me, I’m fine. But there are certain limits which you shouldn’t go over. You have to tell people sometimes.”

Apparently, saying “No comment,” was never an option. Shortly after the Australian Open, Chris Evert called Hingis to discuss the Mauresmo controversy.

“I was raised that way to be feminine, to have my own style,” Hingis said. “More or less, Chris Evert was the same and everybody loved her. It was a different time.

“It was good to talk to her. We also talked about what happened when she was around, in her time, and it was more difficult, I guess.”

Hingis had just watched Barbara Walters’ interview of Monica Lewinsky and giggled about some of the candid talk.

“There are certain things I don’t talk about,” she said. “But there is almost no question for me I couldn’t answer. I watched the Lewinsky interview and she said, ‘I can’t answer that question.’ She looked great, much better than those pictures.

“If you look at her before . . . how could Bill Clinton? They improved her so much--told her how to speak, how to behave.”

Hingis thought of Lewinsky again when she was asked about the best and worst aspects of being the No. 1 player in the world.

“There are certain times that you just want to [be left alone] . . . now, I am looking into heaven like Monica, looking for the question,” she said, laughing. “But this story, this is American. They just wouldn’t make this a big deal [in Europe]. It happens.

“Come on, imagine if something like this happened in Russia. OK, Boris Yeltsin or whoever goes out with someone. And if she says one word, they would kill her right away.”

Her colleagues aren’t surprised by Hingis’ candor.

“Martina has been like this ever since she made it to the top, ever since she became No. 1,” said Jana Novotna, her former doubles partner.

“She was always very opinionated about everything, whether it was her game or somebody else’s game, or just different things. You know, I wouldn’t expect anything else from her.”

Yet Hingis admits to having made mistakes and learning from them when she was supplanted as No. 1 by Lindsay Davenport late last year. She reclaimed the top spot in February.

“You always think you’re smarter than everybody else,” she said. “It’s just not true. You have to have these experiences. And not make the same mistakes.”