Hingis Is Showing She’s Still Got It

It’s hard to determine the precise moment where and when the words novelty and nostalgia trip officially disappeared from descriptions about the recent activities of former No. 1 Martina Hingis:

1) Gold Coast, Australia.

2) Melbourne, Australia.

3) Tokyo, Japan.

How about door No. 3?

Gold Coast was where she made the semifinals in her first event of the year, and at the Australian Open in Melbourne she reached the quarterfinals before losing to Kim Clijsters in three sets.

But Tokyo was where Hingis recorded her first win over a top-five player since starting her comeback on the women’s tennis tour, playing a regular schedule for the first time since 2002. And it came against none other than 2004 Wimbledon champion Maria Sharapova.

Hingis, cheekily, had openly welcomed such an opportunity against Sharapova, saying she wanted “to see what she’s got.” Well, in this case, four games.

Though Sharapova recently beat Hingis in Dubai, Hingis’ semifinal victory against Sharapova in Tokyo represented a breakthrough on several levels. It put her in her first final since having been forced to leave the tour in 2002 with persistent feet and ankle injuries. Secondly, many had doubted the 25-year-old Hingis, winner of five Grand Slam singles titles, could deal with the new generation of power players.

“Of course it’s something, you prove to yourself that you’ve still got it,” Hingis said Wednesday. Sharapova “is one of the younger generation. Justine [Henin-Hardenne], Kim [Clijsters] and Amelie Mauresmo, I’ve played in the past. She’s the future. Beating her was definitely, ‘Hey, maybe I can go back.’ ”

Hingis was talking shortly after her first news conference at the Pacific Life Open at the Indian Wells Tennis Garden. She sat down behind a big brown desk and joked it felt like a job interview. Evidence suggests the day job is going just fine.

In addition to beating Sharapova, Hingis took down two other recent Grand Slam champions, beating 2004 French Open winner Anastasia Myskina in Dubai and 2004 U.S. Open winner Svetlana Kuznetsova in Doha, both victories coming in straight sets.

“Of course, she can beat a lot of players,” Myskina said. “As you can see, it’s still hard for her to compete against ... Amelie and Maria. She’ll need time to get back at the same level she was.”

At Indian Wells, Hingis is in the same section of the draw as Lindsay Davenport, and they could meet in the fourth round. Davenport has seen Hingis play only on television in Australia during the comeback, but that has been enough to impress her.

“She was amazing,” Davenport said. “She was able to do the same thing she would do in the ‘90s, still be able to do it today against players that supposedly hit harder and maybe overpower her. Still taking balls early, still changing directions on the ball, still putting her opponents on the run.”

Hingis’ return has been an extra intriguing element for the women’s tour, considering the usual injuries among the top players and the absence of sisters Venus and Serena Williams, who seem to be on an unannounced sabbatical.

“It’s exciting from my perspective that it’s still early days,” said Larry Scott, chief executive of the WTA Tour. “We’re in early March of her comeback and I think it’s less than eight weeks old.

“I think everyone would say whatever kind of tennis you’re seeing from her now isn’t her best. There’s a lot better ahead for her.”

Hingis dipped her toe in the comeback pond a little more than a year ago. She lost in three sets at Pattaya City, Thailand, running out of steam against Marlene Weingartner in the first round. This time, the comeback was different.

“I dropped weight because my lifestyle had changed,” Hingis said. “I was like a stick. When I played Pattaya, I was 125 pounds. Now I’m like 135, 132, that’s a big difference. [Before] I couldn’t kill a fly.”

Her reasoning for the comeback was simple.

“I said over and over, I didn’t want to have any regrets when I’m 30, why didn’t I try when I’m 25,” Hingis said. “My life wasn’t as fulfilled as when I was playing tennis. That’s always one thing I knew the best.”

Hingis was able to mature in her time away from the sport.

“Maybe some days I’m a better student than I was when I was 17,” she said. “When you’re No. 1 in the world, being criticized all the time, you just don’t hear it anymore.”

Now the criticism seems constructive, not destructive. Hingis is reveling in her return, thrilled to be back at Indian Wells for the first time since 2002 and clearly pleased at the supportive crowd reaction ... at her practices.

But there are almost no regrets about her time away. She could go skiing in her native Switzerland, and horseback riding, at will. In the days she was No. 1 and winning Slam titles, the limits felt restrictive.

“You’re like a kid in a candy store and you can’t take the candy,” Hingis said.

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The men’s draw suffered one loss when Taylor Dent withdrew because of an ailing back. Dent, scheduled to play wild card Sam Querrey in the first round, will be replaced by Bobby Reynolds.