She's baaack

Hingis returns without missing a beat

MONTREAL -- She hit an unremarkable first serve, executed a perfect split step and hesitated for a nanosecond -- as she, alone among tennis players, can -- to see where her opponent was headed. Then she guided a forehand volley to the open court for a winner. With that, Martina Hingis won the first point of her match Tuesday afternoon at the Rogers AT&T Cup in Montreal. More important, she answered months of doubts and speculation about whether a bum left ankle would prevent her from ever playing again.

Barely an hour later Hingis had polished off Spain's Magui Serna 6-4, 6-3, and her comeback was officially a success. To borrow from the promos for that cinematic classic Child's Play 2: Chucky's back. "It was not, obviously, the best tennis I have ever played," Hingis said afterward. "But I'm happy to go through like that. I would say it was a good first match back."

For years now it's been abundantly clear that Hingis has been wielding a knife at a gun fight, and that she has neither the brute strength nor power to compete on equal footing with the likes of the Williams sisters, Jennifer Capriati and Lindsay Davenport. Deprive her of her footspeed, as dual ankle injuries have done, and the odds of Hingis returning to the No. 1 spot where she roosted for years become slimmer still.

Nevertheless, Hingis is tennis' great stylist, who plays with flair and an intuitive knack for angles and possibilities that eludes the rest of the field. Her nous was on display Tuesday as she flustered Serna -- no slouch of an opponent, by the way -- with a mix of slices, topspins, floaters and sneak attacks to the net. All the while, she wore her familiar wry cat-ate-the-canary smile.

Hingis didn't have a rhythm the way she normally does, but she looked no worse the wear for a player who underwent surgery before the French Open and only had been practicing for six weeks. Her ankle swathed in a precautionary bandage, she moved smoothly from corner to corner and was hardly winded despite playing in kiln-like conditions. "It's pretty much the same Martina," Serna announced to a WTA rep in the players' lounge. "I didn't notice much different."

So, too, was Hingis' customary candor in evidence. After the match she was asked about Amelie Mauresmo and Justine Henin essentially conceding that the Williams sisters reigned supreme and that the rest of the field was playing for third place. "I don't hear those comments, so I don't know," she said, her controversy radar clearly in working order. Then (mercifully), as so often happens, she failed to cordon off what she thought from what she said: "I don't know why they would say something like that. Justine was close to beating both of them at times, as she has in the past. You know, Serena lost last week and Kim got close to beating Venus as well. ... Once you've been [at the top] for a little while, it's still harder to maintain that level." Nothing sensational or incendiary, but some good, old-fashioned honesty and insight.

Despite Tuesday's impressive display, it's hard to imagine Hingis making much of a dent at the U.S. Open. After all, while she was out she didn't grow six inches, add 40 pounds of muscle or add much juice to a glacially paced serve. Still, she is one of the core cast members who makes the women's tour intriguing and, at nearly 22 years old, is scarcely recognizable from the player universally rebuked as a cocky teenager.

Long ago Hingis reached the irreducible conclusion that the game might be passing her by. But watching her beau, Sergio García, compete at the U.S. Open two months ago, she was struck by how she missed competition. "I was like, OK, I want to be at my own game," she said. "I missed having a routine, the discipline, the workout. I just missed tennis."

Now that she's returned, the truth can be told: The sport suffers in her absence.

Half volleys

Groans of disappointment and skeptical moans reverberated through the grounds Tuesday afternoon when it was announced that top seed Serena Williams was withdrawing with acute left-knee tendinitis. This is the second time that Williams has pulled out of the Rogers AT&T Cup at the 11th hour. Meilen Tu replaced Williams in the draw. ... Daniela Hantuchova has officially hit the big time; she was given the coveted Wednesday start. ... Arantxa Sánchez-Vicario's descent continued Tuesday as she lost to Laura Granville 6-2, 6-2. In ASV's defense, she arrived from Helsinki only late Monday night. ... According to WTA Tour personnel, every player who was in town attended Monday night's sponsor party, a publicity feat akin to playing a golden set. ... Down a set and 2-4, the doubles team of Capriati and Martina Navratilova rallied to beat Tina Krizan and Katarina Srebotnik 4-6, 6-4, 6-4 in an utterly enjoyable match. Navratilova will partner with Iroda Tulyaganova at the U.S. Open. ... Quote of the Day goes to Sánchez-Vicario. Asked the inevitable question -- "How long do you intend to keep playing?" -- she responded: "Physically, I am in good shape. Tennisly, as well, I am good condition." (Hey, if we can have swimmingly, why not tennisly?)

Sports Illustrated senior writer Jon Wertheim covers tennis for the magazine and is a regular contributor to CNNSI.com. Click here to send a question to his Tennis Mailbag.

 

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