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Still on top Martina Hingis reflects on up-and-down year
Posted: Saturday November 20, 1999 02:23 PM
After a year and a half reign at No. 1, Martina Hingis began 1999 as the No. 2 ranked women's tennis player in the world, behind Lindsay Davenport. But now, as she prepares to defend her title at the season-ending Chase Championships, Hingis finds herself back at No. 1, with 7 more trophies in her case and another Grand Slam title on her resume. In between, the Swiss Miss has had a rocky year, on the court and off. Some observers believe 19-year-old Hingis is simply having growing pains. Others think it's anxiety over being less invincible. National Correspondent Sonja Steptoe sat down with Hingis to talk about the season past and the one ahead. Sonja Steptoe: What have you learned about yourself on the court as a player? Martina Hingis: I went through very emotional things this year, like being in the French Open finals already feeling like you got it and kind of losing it. I think it was like sometimes in life things happen and you try to change them and if you learn from mistakes, it's always a good thing. Steptoe: What did you learn about yourself as a person off the court? Hingis: I think just to be more patient sometimes -- that you can't have everything at once, but learn to deal with your feelings a little bit better. To control yourself I think. Also to know where the limits are -- what you're allowed and what not. It's just that people see me more often and they feel like, 'oh right you're not allowed to do anything wrong.' But I'm a human being. I think it's just everything turned out well if you have the right people around you, you realize the support they give you and the trust too. Steptoe: Your mom, I know is a big factor in that support you get. What advice did she give you during the difficult time that helped you emerge? Hingis: Just that she let me do it. I always had the option and the possibility to decide and made that decision whether it was right or wrong and I figured that out pretty quickly it was not the right thing to do. But she gave me the freedom to do it and to have the experience of what I had to go through. Steptoe: You seem to enjoy more things outside tennis now. You had horseback riding before, but now you have a boyfriend and you're doing other things. Is that accurate? Hingis: I think once you're 19 and you went through this too. It's not always a serious thing it's just you want to experience life too -- not only on the tennis court but also as every other girl my age and it's a great experience to have. Steptoe: How has the emergence of the big hitters on tour changed the way you have to play? Hingis: The game overall has gotten so much better, stronger, more physical parts to the game. I had to start working on myself to be a little bit more in the lifting room and doing the fitness to keep up with the big girls. I still think I have the speed and the variations also to win the matches, but it's very good competition and also a great challenge for me too. Steptoe: How tough are the Williams sisters? Hingis: Oh they are tough, you can see that -- the challenge, the competition. They're No. 3 and 4 in the world right now. Serena beat me in the finals at the U.S. open. But I'm still waiting for that revenge there. But it's just great motivation and it lifted up the whole women's tennis game. Steptoe: You don't sound like you're intimidated by them. Are you intimidated by the Williams or Lindsay? Hingis: No, because I think I have a reason to believe in myself and I think I'm also pretty confident about who I am and what I'm doing and it might be because I'm still at the top too. Steptoe: Where do you get all this confidence from? Hingis: The results! It's me who has the five Grand Slams. It's me who is No. 1 in the world. Nobody else right now is. Steptoe: What is it going to take for you to be No. 1 at the end of 2000?
Hingis: Show up as good as I can -- to try to be the best that's
all I can do. If it's enough great, but if not others will have a
hard time beating me.
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