- Nickname(s) Swiss Miss
- Country Switzerland
- Residence Trübbach, Switzerland
- Date of birth September 30, 1980 (1980-09-30) (age 27)
- Place of birth Košice, Slovakia then CSSR
- Height 170 cm (5 ft 7 in)
- Weight 59 kg (130 lb)
- Turned Pro 1994
- Retired 2002; Comeback in 2006;
- again November 1, 2007
- Plays Right; Two-handed backhand
- Career Prize Money $20,130,657 (4th in all-time rankings)
- Singles
- Career record: 548-133
- Career titles: 43 WTA, 2 ITF
- Highest ranking: No. 1 (March 31, 1997
- Grand Slam results
- Australian Open W (1997, 1998, 1999)
- French Open F (1997, 1999)
- Wimbledon W (1997)
- U.S. Open W (1997)
- Doubles
- Career record: 286-54
- Career titles: 37 WTA, 1 ITF
- Highest ranking: No. 1 (June 8, 1998)
Martina Hingis (pronounced: h?????s) (born September 30, 1980 in Košice, Slovakia) is a former tennis player and World No. 1. Known as the “Swiss Miss”, she won five Grand Slam singles titles (three Australian Open, one Wimbledon, and one US Open) before her retirement on November 1, 2007.
She also won nine Grand Slam women’s doubles titles, winning a calendar year Grand Slam in 1998, and one Grand Slam mixed doubles title. She spent a total of 209 weeks as World No. 1 and set a series of “youngest-ever” records before ligament injuries in both ankles forced her to temporarily withdraw from professional tennis at the relatively early age of 22.
On November 29, 2005, after several surgeries and long recuperations, the 25-year-old Hingis announced that she would return to the WTA tour. During her comeback Hingis climbed as high as No. 6 in the world rankings and won three titles (at the Tier I tournament in Rome, the Tier III tournament in Kolkata, India, and the Tier I tournament in Tokyo).
On November 1, 2007, after suffering from injuries for much of the year, Hingis announced her second retirement from tennis while admitting she had tested positive for cocaine during the 2007 Wimbledon Championships. She denied using the drug.
2005
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 for a comeback.
Hingis, however, resurfaced in July, playing singles, doubles, and mixed doubles in World Team Tennis and notching up singles victories over two top 100 players and shutting out Martina Navrátilová in singles on July 7th. With these promising results behind her, Hingis announced on November 29 her return to the WTA Tour in 2006.
2006
Her Grand Slam comeback debut was at the 2006 Australian Open, where she reached the quarterfinals before losing to Kim Clijsters, the second seed. However, Hingis won the mixed doubles title with Mahesh Bhupathi of India. This was her first career Grand Slam mixed doubles title and fifteenth overall (5 singles, 9 women’s doubles, 1 mixed doubles).
On May 19, 2006, Hingis posted her 500th career singles match victory in the quarterfinals of the Tier I Italian Open in Rome, beating top 20 player Flavia Pennetta, and two days later won the tournament. This was her 41st WTA tour singles title and first in more than four years. Hingis then reached the quarterfinals at the French Open, losing to Clijsters, and the third round at Wimbledon, losing to Ai Sugiyama. Her U.S. Open return was short lived, losing in the second round 6-2, 6-4 to Virginie Razzano, who was ranked outside the top 100.
In her first tournament since the U.S. Open, Hingis won the second title of her comeback at the Tier III Sunfeast Open in Kolkata, India. She defeated unseeded Russian Olga Poutchkova 6-0, 6-4 in the final after defeating Sania Mirza 6-1, 6-0 in a semifinal. The following week in Seoul, Hingis notched her 50th match win of the year before losing in the second round to Mirza 4-6, 6-0, 6-4.
During her 8 months back on the WTA tour, Hingis has reached three Tier I finals - the first in Tokyo (falling to Elena Dementieva 6-2, 6-0, after defeating Maria Sharapova in a semifinal), then in Rome (winning the title over Dinara Safina 6-2, 7-5), and in Montreal (falling to Ana Ivanovi? 6-2, 6-3). She has beaten several top players in her comeback, including Sharapova, Lindsay Davenport, Dementieva, Svetlana Kuznetsova, Nadia Petrova and Venus Williams.
Hingis qualified for the end of year WTA Tour Championships in Madrid as the eighth seed. In her three round robin matches, she lost in three sets to both Justine Henin-Hardenne and Amelie Mauresmo but defeated Nadia Petrova 6-4, 3-6, 6-3.
Hingis ended the year ranked No. 7 in the WTA rankings, which is based on the previous 52 weeks of results. In the 2006 Race to the Sony Ericsson Championships rankings, she also finished No. 7. She finished 8th in prize money earnings during 2006 (U.S. $1,159,537).
2007
Hingis started 2007 by reaching the final of a Tier III event, the Australian Hardcourt Championships in Gold Coast, Australia, losing to Dinara Safina of Russia 6-3, 3-6, 7-5. The next week at the Medibank International in Sydney, Hingis lost her first round match to Jelena Jankovi? in three sets.
At the 2007 Australian Open, Hingis won her first three rounds without losing a set before defeating China’s Na Li in the fourth round 4-6, 6-3, 6-0. Hingis then lost a quarterfinal match to Kim Clijsters 3-6, 6-4, 6-3. This was the second consecutive year that Hingis had lost to Clijsters in the quarterfinals of the Australian Open and the third time in the last five Grand Slam tournaments that Clijsters had eliminated Hingis in the quarterfinals.
Hingis won her next tournament, the Tier I Toray Pan Pacific Open in Tokyo, Japan, defeating Ana Ivanovi? in the final 6-4, 6-2. This was Hingis’s record fifth singles title at this event.[7]
Three weeks later, Hingis lost for the second time this year to Jankovi? in the quarterfinals of the Dubai Duty Free Women’s Open. At the Qatar Total Open in Doha, Hingis lost to Daniela Hantuchova 1-6, 6-4, 6-4 in the quarterfinals after being up a set and 4-1 (40-0) in the second set. In women’s doubles, Hingis teamed with Maria Kirilenko to win the title, defeating Agnes Szavay and Vladimira Uhlirova in the final 6-1, 6-1.
At the Pacific Life Open in Indian Wells, California, which was the second Tier I tournament of the year, Hingis again lost to Hantuchova, this time in the fourth round 6-4, 6-3. Hingis was up a service break in both sets but, as in Doha, could not hold her lead.
At the Tier I Sony Ericsson Open in Key Biscayne, Florida, Hingis again failed to reach the quarterfinals, losing in the third round to Agnieszka Radwa?ska of Poland 4-6, 6-3, 6-2.
Her next tournament was the Qatar Telecom German Open, where she fell in the third round to compatriot Patty Schnyder 6-4, 6-0. A hip injury that troubled her at the German Open (she took painkillers for her matches) caused her to withdraw from the Telecom Italia Masters Roma, where she was the defending champion, and the French Open, the only Grand Slam singles title that has eluded her.
In her first round match at Wimbledon Hingis saved two match points to defeat British wildcard Naomi Cavaday. Afterwards it emerged Martina had not fully recovered from the hip injury that prevented her from playing in Roland Garros.[8] In the third round Hingis lost to Laura Granville of the United States 6-4, 6-2 and claimed afterwards she should not have entered the tournament.[9] In San Diego, Martina defeated Michaella Krajicek 7-5 6-2 before falling to an in-form Patty Schnyder 6-1 6-7(4) 6-3. Hingis was leading 3-1 in the final set before losing 5 straight games.
In August 2007, Hingis lost to Sania Mirza 6-2, 2-6, 6-4 in a second-round match of East West Bank Classic WTA Tournament.[10]
Her next tournament was the last grand slam of the year, the U.S. Open, the same Open that she won exactly ten years ago for the first time. Fortunately for Hingis, she got stuck in the bottom, less competitive part of the draw. After winning in the first two rounds, many commentators had been saying that if she continued to play the way she was, she had a chance of making the semi-finals with her variety of shots instead of the hard hitting players that make up most of the womens tour. If she won in the third round, her likely opponent would have been fourth seeded, and 2004 champion, Svetlana Kuznetsova, who has been known to be great when she plays well, but very inconsistent. With the recent exit of last years champion and number two seed, Maria Sharapova, the bottom half had been blown wide open, with anyone having a chance to make the finals, including Hingis.
Unfortunately, Hingis crashed out of the third round losing to Belorussian teenager Victoria Azarenka 6-3, 1-6, 0-6; however, she will gain points for improving by one round from her shock second round exit last year.
In September 2007, Hingis played at her debut tournament in Beijing. She had a comfortable first round win over Chinese youngster Tian Tian Sun 6-2, 6-3; however, her winning form was halted when she lost in the second round to Chinese star Shuai Peng in straight sets 7-5, 6-1.
Grand Slam singles finals
Wins (5)
| Year | Championship | Opponent in Final | Score in Final |
Runner-ups (7)
| Year | Championship | Opponent in Final | Score in Final |
Grand Slam doubles finals
Wins (9)
| Year | Championship | Partnering | Opponents in Final | Score in Final |
Runner-ups (2)
| Year | Championship | Partnering | Opponents in Final | Score in Final |
Awards and accolades
1993
- Aged 12, became youngest-ever Grand Slam junior winner at 1993 French Open. Jennifer Capriati was the previous youngest winner.
1994
- ITF Junior Girls Singles World Champion. Won Wimbledon junior singles title (youngest junior champion there at 13 years, 276 days). Won French Open junior singles and doubles titles. Runner-up at U.S. Open junior singles tournament.
1995
- TENNIS Magazine Female Rookie of the Year.
1996
- Women’s Tennis Association (WTA) Tour Most Improved Player. WTA Tour Most Impressive Newcomer Award.
1997
- Associated Press Female Athlete of the Year.
- Selected as the Player of the Year by the WTA Tour, the International Tennis Federation, and TENNIS Magazine.
- BBC Overseas Sports Personality of the Year.
1998
- First female athlete to be on the cover of the American men’s magazine GQ in June 1998.
- WTA Tour Doubles Team of the Year with Jana Novotna.
1999
- WTA Tour Doubles Team of the Year with Anna Kournikova.
2000
- One of five female tennis players named to the 2000 Forbes magazine Power 100 in Fame and Fortune list at No. 51.
- WTA Tour Diamond ACES Award.
2001
- Family Circle/Hormel Foods Player Who Makes a Difference.
2002
- Elected to Tour Players’ Council.
2006
- World Comeback of the Year Award at the 2006 Laureus World Sports Awards.
2007
- Surpassed U.S.$20 million in career earnings at the Sony Ericsson Open in Key Biscayne, Florida, the fourth female player to do so (after Steffi Graf, Martina Navratilova, and Lindsay Davenport). She was fourth in the all-time money list at $20,033,600 after the tournament. [2]
- Meredith Inspiration Award for inspiring women around the world - Family Circle Cup/Family Circle Magazine
Others
- Except for the French Open, has won every major WTA Tour singles title at least once during her career (Grand Slam tournaments, WTA Tour Championships, and Tier I tournaments).
- Except for Berlin, has won every major WTA Tour doubles title at least once during her career (Grand Slam tournaments, WTA Tour Championships, and Tier I tournaments).
- 1999 French Open final (Graf d. Hingis 4-6, 7-5, 6-2) was voted by worldwide fans as the Greatest Match in 30-Year History of the Tour (online voting spanned two months and included a ballot of 16 memorable matches).
- To celebrate the WTA Tour’s 30th Anniversary, attended on-court ceremony at 2003 season-ending WTA Tour Championships that honored 13 world No. 1 champions (past and present), and founding members of the tour.