| |
'Just a sport' Hingis receives support from fellow players
Posted: Thursday June 24, 1999 10:40 AM
LONDON (Reuters) -- The top names in women's tennis closed ranks around world No. 1 Martina Hingis on Wednesday following her shocking and rapid fall from grace. Former teenage prodigy Jennifer Capriati said: "Who knows what she is feeling inside? "When you're on top and everything's great, it's great. But as soon as there is one little thing that shows a little imperfection, the vultures can't wait to knock you down." The 18-year-old Hingis was thrashed 6-2, 6-0 on Tuesday in the Wimbledon first round by 16-year-old qualifier Jelena Dokic in one of the biggest shocks in modern Wimbledon history. Sixth seed Venus Williams said: "I would say you just have to get back up. You have to remember this is just a sport and after the sport you leave the courts and you go on, so you can't take it to heart. "She has five Grand Slams, so she has been doing something right. Everybody has a tough loss." That defeat was the latest twist in a nightmare month for top seed Hingis which has seen her torn apart in the tabloids for her behavior both on and off court. The Swiss teenager was booed in the final of the French Open against Steffi Graf for questioning line calls, crossing the net to inspect marks in the clay and arguing with the umpire. She was jeered by the partisan Roland Garros crowd for using a bathroom break to buy some time -- and change her outfit and hairstyle. The final insult was serving underhand at match point and the Paris crowd was livid. Melanie Molitor, her mother and the driving force behind Hingis's rise to the top, was not at courtside for Hingis' Wimbledon humiliation -- the first major match she has missed. Hingis denied a rift saying the pair just wanted "some distance" and her fellow professionals and peers have formed a protective ring around her. "My advice would be to block out all the press and all the negativity of whatever she is feeling, and not let that start to control the way she feels," Capriati said. Hingis called her doubles partner Anna Kournikova late on Tuesday night to tell her she was pulling out of the event, officially citing a heel problem. Kournikova was reluctant to talk about her friend. "I guess I don't want to say -- no comment," she said when asked about Hingis's decision to pull out. "Nobody really understands what we're going through, unless they've been there -- when there is big money, there is pressure. "Of course it's very unpleasant for anybody to lose in the first round, especially a Grand Slam, but I'm sure she'll come back strong and she'll be very strong." Billie-Jean King, six-times Wimbledon singles champion and legend of the women's game was more insightful and more candid. "She's obviously very, very sad, you can tell," she said. "She's trying to figure out her life a bit. She needs to go away and find her equilibrium. It's all about lessons in life."
Copyright 2003 Reuters Limited. All rights reserved. | |||||||||||||||||
Copyright © 1999 CNN/SI. A Time Warner Company. Terms under which this service is provided to you.
| |||||||||||||||||
