The return of H... a new age ?

It was 1996 and I was waiting to have cable installed. I had to visit a friend of mine (a 3-minute bike ride) to watch Martina play. She was chubby but eventually won consecutive matches. The other players seemed to play worse when they were facing her. Her mother's clapping seemed strange, as if she was supposed to win each and every match.

For some years, she was the indisputed best overall tennis player, and having to compete with Lindsay, Venus, Serena, Amelie, Kim, only made it more difficult (she wasn't always the no.1) but also more rewarding.

An injury kept her away from the courts.
It was 2002. Until this week...

"Martina Hingis made a successful return to competitive tennis after a three-year absence Monday, beating Venezuela's Maria Vento-Kabchi 6-2, 6-1 in the Australian women's hardcourt championships.

The 25-year-old Hingis, a five-time Grand Slam singles champion before retiring in 2002 because of ankle, heel and foot injuries, started tentatively as both players exchanged service breaks. But the three-time Australian Open champion showed no signs of the extended layoff as she easily outplayed Vento-Kabchi the rest of the match.

"I was a little nervous," Hingis told the capacity crowd at Royal Pines stadium after the match. "I'd like to thank my family and friends for supporting me."

It was Hingis' first WTA Tour match since losing to Elena Dementieva in Filderstadt, Germany, in October 2002. The Swiss star will face seventh-seeded Klara Koukalova of the Czech Republic in the second round, and also plans to play next week in the Sydney International as she prepares the Australian Open.

"Under the circumstances in the heat and not having played for three years, I'd say an eight (out of 10), other times even better," Hingis said. "I don't know what else I should have done today better than what I did. The score says it all."

Hingis' serve has improved and her groundstrokes appear considerably harder than when she retired at the age of 22 in 2002.

"Just wait until the next matches, I'll be even better," said Hingis, who had one ace. "You have to have a high percentage of first serves otherwise these girls today are going to kill you. They're very aggressive and they attack right away." she stated".

          - Associated Press (USA).


"Un peu plus de trois ans après s'être retirée des courts et près d'une année après une première "demi-tentative" de retour au tournoi de Pattaya, Martina Hingis n'a pas manqué son vrai come back. Débarassée de ses soucis aux chevilles, l'ancienne patronne du tennis mondiale s'est fait plaisir à Gold Coast et a surtout aisément battu Maria Vento-Kabchi en deux sets parfaitement maîtrisés (6-2, 6-1).

Si elle s'est montrée quelque peu "nerveuse" selon ses propres mots, la lauréate de cinq tournois du Grand Chelem a parfaitement géré cette première en 2006. Malgré la perte de sa première mise en jeu de la partie, la Suissesse s'est montrée conquérante et surtout dominatrice. A l'arrivée, Maria Vento-Kabchi (62e joueuse mondiale) n'a pu lutter.

Pour l'anecdote, la Vénézuélienne a moins résisté que lors de sa précédente et unique rencontre face à Hingis. En 2001à Doha, Hingis l'avait emporté 7-6 6-1. Au deuxième tour, Martina Hingis affrontera Klara Koukalova, 35e mondiale."

          - Eurosport (France).


"Martina Hingis bateu a venezuela Maria Vento-Kabchi na sua primeira partida oficial desde 2002. A antiga número 1 do ténis mundial regressa às vitórias depois de três anos de interrupção na carreira desportiva.

Hingis venceu sem dificuldades Maria Vento-Kabchi por 6-2 e 6-1 na 2ª ronda do Gold Coast, apesar de no início da partida se ter mostrado um pouco nervosa.

Vencedora de 5 títulos do Gram Slam, a tenista de 25 anos estava afastada da competição desde 2002 devido a uma grave lesão numa perna".

          - Record (Portugal).


"Martina Hingis emerged from her three-year break looking trim in a sleek red-orange outfit, with a nervous smile and a small wave to the crowd that cheered her onto the intimate centre court at Royal Pines. Hingis would later remark on the cruel heat; in the beginning, her comeback match threatened to inflict a pain all of its own.

Six points had been played and lost before the Swiss won her first - through a double-fault from her opponent, Venezuelan veteran Maria Vento-Kabchi. A string of backhand errors preceded a wild serve that missed the box by metres, and Hingis realised that the main thing she had forgotten in her time away was the need to breathe.

She was nervous, obviously. "No kidding." Well, how nervous? "I guess you saw the first six points, didn't you? But it's normal. Even when I played the exhibitions or when I played Team Tennis I was always nervous the first two, three games."

Indeed, while it was not until the 24th point that she hit her first winner, improvement was steady. By late in the first set Hingis had settled into a comfortable rhythm, running the portly Vento-Kabchi around the court and stroking the ball with her old confidence and some new force.



From 3-2, Hingis won eight consecutive games, allowing Vento-Kabchi just one more before serving out the match 6-2, 6-1 to a deserved ovation. "I hope [the crowd] just enjoy it if I can play [as] well as I used to, maybe even better at times," Hingis said. "Today I really felt like I played well, three or four games in the second set I almost didn't miss a shot, and just started serving better and loosening up."

The Australian Women's Hardcourts is a modest little tournament, laid-back in the Queensland way, at which spectators can drink straight from stubbies and wear their thongs - in the corporate boxes. Hingis, too, has been relaxed since her arrival, accommodating organisers' requests and yesterday playing freely and well once she had settled in.

When the match ended on a final Vento-Kabchi error after just 51 minutes, Hingis could not disguise her joy, grinning as she jogged to the net and then leaving the court for a kiss and hug from her stepfather, Mario Widmer, and hitting partner Radim Valigura. There was also a congratulatory pat from fellow Swiss Patty Schnyder, the top seed.

The only cautionary note is that Vento-Kabchi was, well, lamentable. If that is representative of top-60 standard, then Hingis has already well exceeded it. Next is Klara Koukalova, a top-30 fringe-dweller, and although that will give a better indication, the best test would come in a quarter-final against 13th-ranked Francesca Schiavone, the feisty Italian second seed."

          - Sydney Morning Herald (Australia).


All quotes from January, the 2nd, 2006.
There will be more news, hopefully for a long time to come.