A teenager winning Wimbledon should come as a surprise. Boris Becker was unseeded when he won the tournament in Similarly, though Maria Sharapova was seeded 13th when she won in , her triumph over Serena Williams was a historic upset at the time.
In truth, it was actually predicted. The Swiss star was already number one in the world by this point and had reached the final of both the Australian Open and Roland-Garros that same season. At this stage, it seemed the teenager was unstoppable. US Open glory followed this Wimbledon win, as did a second consecutive Australian Open at the start of Tournaments Scores Rankings News Videos.
Share this page. Copy Link. Sign Up. Martina Hingis, the teenager with the flair for tennis and self-publicity, who has been setting records ever since she strode into the world of professional tennis at the tender age of 14, became history herself yesterday afternoon on No1 court when she was demolished , in the first round by the year-old Australian qualifier Jelena Dokic.
This was shock enough in itself, arguably the biggest in more than a century of women's tennis at Wimbledon, but the fact that Hingis's mother, coach and mentor, Melanie Molitor, was missing, having returned home at the weekend, took even the Swiss journalists by surprise.
The two have been inseparable throughout Hingis's childhood and professional career. When she lost in the final of the French Open to Germany's Steffi Graf this month and bolted out of the centre court, it was her mother who guided her back for the presentation ceremony, with Hingis still sobbing on her shoulder. Worse had happened just off court when Hingis, beside herself with the frustration of losing to Graf and missing the one grand slam title she has yet to win, slapped a Women's Tennis Association official.
There seems little doubt that Hingis, though a millionairess, was given a stern talking to by her mother. But the two arrived together at Eastbourne for the pre-Wimbledon tournament last week and there was no indication of a rift. She played sparingly in and mounted a full-blown singles comeback in , where still just 26, she finished the year ranked No. While injuries became an inhibiting factor the following season, Hingis was ultimately forced out of the game in November after she tested positive at Wimbledon for a metabolite of cocaine.
She ended up suspended until October Afterward, Hingis remained at the fringes of the game, then reinvented herself as a main-tour doubles specialist, officially coming out of retirement in -- the same year she was inducted into the International Tennis Hall of Fame.
She would then win her first Grand Slam title since at the Australian Open, taking the mixed-doubles event with Leander Paes. The titles began to pile up soon thereafter. She and Sania Mirza won three majors together, before partnering with Chan to run through the draw in New York. Who knows, maybe there will be more to come. As Hingis wrote in her retirement declaration: "This isn't a good-bye.
As history shows, I haven't been able to stay away from tennis for very long in the past. Skip to main content Skip to navigation. Done again?
Why Martina Hingis decided to retire for a third time. Cristian reaches first WTA final in Linz.
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