Martina Hingis is not yet ready to come back


Martina no come back
By Etienne Stekelenburg
January 19 2003

Martina Hingis did not yet resign from tennis but said she might be unable to play again in an interview. Both her agency Octagon and the WTA stated that Hingis did not plan retirement or a come back. In interviews in the Swiss press its clear that Martina Hingis is enjoying her new life off court.

Martina Hingis, who is playing tennis since she could walk, is taking time off for other things than tennis. She was taking a once in a lifetime opportunity to take a ride in an Omega Bobsleigh last Friday the 17th. Martina Hingis, being one of the Omega star ambassadors took this change with both hands now that she is able to spend time other then hitting balls in the Australian summer.

 

In interviews Hingis made clear that she is just enjoying her life as it is right now while recovering from her ankle surgery. According to the latest report from her doctor Heinz Buehlmann, she should be able to use her ankle. He also said that it would take the pain when she is moving like a tennis player. Buehlmann explained that he knows Hingis very well and that she is able to fight the pain but if she still, after four years of pain, is willing to stand the pain he could not tell.

 

As for now it seems that Hingis is choosing a life of fun and leisure. She is doing the things she never had time for during her full tennis schedule like horse riding, long hikes, skiing, bicycle rides and learning English at school.

 

Her only involvement in tennis now seems to be watching the matches on the television and checking the Teletext for results in Australia. She doesn’t miss anything not being on the tour. She only misses that the WTA does not understand that the schedule is too full and that its only increasing and that it cant go on like this. More players start to have injuries and health problems and a player on the top always have to play to stay on top.

 

She said that she didn’t have any comeback plan and that she will be staying in Switzerland, which is her home. She feels that her home in Saddlebrook is just a place to practise, which she is not doing at the moment. As long as she can’t train without pain she will not be playing competitive tennis and if her feet don’t allow it she will never play again.

 

Leo Casanova stated that Melanie Molitor is going to coach Myriam Casanova in the Swiss Newspaper TagBlatt. While Martina is on the sideline for the moment rising Swiss star Casanova will be working with Melanie Molitor daily. The 17 year old made her debut in 1999 and won her first WTA title in Brussels Belgium last year, she also has been on the Swiss Fed Cup team.