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Hingis can't hide anymore Repeated Slam shortcomings take luster off world No. 1
LONDON -- Martina Hingis was certainly conspicuous by her absence on the Wimbledon practice courts last week. That much is certain. On Monday, after her stunning 6-4, 6-2 first-round defeat by Spain's Virginia Ruano Pascual, Hingis claimed she had tendinitis in her back. A serious injury or a convenient excuse? That remains open to conjecture. Hingis certainly appeared a forlorn figure in the obligatory press conference after her match as she talked of needing acupuncture treatment for her lower back and admitted: "I wasn't really able to move. Yesterday, I got a little better. Today, I was just afraid of moving." She wasn't exactly a galloping gazelle out there on Court No. 1.
Indeed, the most rapid movement she made was in plummeting headlong out of the draw. The top seed made a first-round vanishing act for the second time in three years. In 1999, Jelena Dokic beat her on that same court. That was post-French Open defeat by Steffi Graf amid tantrums and tears, plus the much-publicized break with her coach Melanie Molitor -- her mother. "Well, it seems like either I do really well here or I lose first round," added Hingis, with an effort at injecting some semblance of humor into a day of abject misery.
And there's been a fair share of that for Hingis of late. I don't know about pain in the back, but the 20-year-old Swiss player has had many a pain in the neck recently. There was the stalker trial after professions of undying love from a crazed fan, quickly followed by multi-million dollar legal wranglings with a sportswear company over shoes she claimed damaged her feet. She might find as much mixed success in court as on court. Added pain has been inflicted by the power-puff girls -- Davenport, Capriati, Venus and Serena. Even when Hingis took care of the Williams sisters in successive rounds at this year's Australian Open, she came up against Capriati in the final. She was all powered out. Hingis hasn't won a Grand Slam in more than two years. She's been the top-seeded player at the last eight Grand Slam events and come up short. Her Grand Slam shortcomings have in many ways left her masquerading as world No. 1. Even that could be ripped from her grasp by Wimbledon's end. But in reality, it's been a long time since Hingis could wear that uneasy crown with any great justification. Phil Jones is co-host of World Sport, the international sports show that airs live on CNN/Sports Illustrated and CNN International.
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