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Hingis needs an overhaul New coach, serve might help save career of fading No. 1
Martina Hingis is in danger of fading away as a serious force in women's tennis unless she takes an extended break to re-tool her game and rediscover her inspiration. Her listless semifinal defeat at the hands of Jennifer Capriati at the French Open was another indication of how she's no longer the dominant force she used to be. As she suffered her third straight defeat to Capriati this year, it seemed that Hingis genuinely believed that she didn't have the weapons to beat the more powerful American. The 20-year-old from Switzerland needs to make the professional split with mother Melanie Molitor permanent and find another coach to help her rebuild her game. Molitor only returned to work with her daughter at Roland Garros after the pair had separated a couple of months earlier. Hingis should play Wimbledon and then take at least a couple of months off to improve her service and strengthen her forehand. She should also develop more tactics to unsettle harder-hitting opponents like Capriati, the Williams sisters and Lindsay Davenport.
Time away from the court will also allow the Swiss Miss to get her hunger back and develop some perspective on how tennis fits into her life. She's had very little time off since taking the WTA tour by storm in the mid 1990s. Hingis wears a space-age tennis shirt with mismatching long and short sleeves, but everything else about her game is becoming out of date. Her strengths are her agility, the angles she hits and her consistency. She's also the best volleyer in the ladies' top 10. But while these skills will usually take her to the quarters and semis of the big tournaments, they aren't enough to give her that elusive first Grand Slam title since the 1999 Australian Open. The women's game has changed dramatically since Hingis broke onto the scene as a 14-year-old. These days you need a big serve and a killer forehand -- plus endurance and consistency -- for victory in Grand Slams. This year presented Hingis' best chance to win the French Open for the first time. Venus Williams lost early, Davenport and Monica Seles were injured, she was staying fresh by not playing doubles, and was blessed by a relatively easy draw. But even with Capriati struggling with a knee injury and unheralded Belgian Kim Clijsters waiting in the final, Hingis couldn't overcome the potent groundstrokes of the Australian Open champion. Capriati was also better than Hingis when hitting on the move. I really hope that Hingis can turn her game around. She's one of my favorite players because of her variety of shots and the shrewd tactics she brings to the court. To me, subtlety is much more interesting to watch than sheer power. But just like Capriati, Hingis needs to take time off to re-invent herself. She has to let go of her obsessive desire of holding onto the world No. 1 ranking and look at the big picture. She's only 20. Even if she takes a year off, Martina will still have plenty of time to add to her collection of five Grand Slam titles, which must now be gathering dust after losing so many finals and semifinals in the last couple of years.
Australian-born Jason Dasey is co-host of World Sport, the international sports show that airs live on CNN/Sports Illustrated and CNN International.
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