Mountain View

Overview

Martina Hingis (German pronunciation: ; born 30 September 1980) is a Swiss former professional tennis player. She spent a total of 209 weeks as the singles world No. 1 and 90 weeks as doubles world No. 1, holding both No. 1 rankings simultaneously for 29 weeks.[2] She won five Grand Slam singles titles, thirteen Grand Slam women’s doubles titles, winning a calendar-year doubles Grand Slam in 1998, and seven Grand Slam mixed doubles titles; for a combined total of twenty-five major titles. In addition, she won the season-ending WTA Finals two times in singles and three times in doubles, an Olympic silver medal, and a record seventeen Tier I singles titles.

Hingis set a series of “youngest-ever” records during the 1990s, including youngest-ever Grand Slam champion and youngest-ever world No. 1. Before ligament injuries in both ankles forced her to withdraw temporarily from professional tennis in early 2003, at the age of 22, she had won 40 singles titles and 36 doubles titles and, according to Forbes, was the highest-paid female athlete in the world for five consecutive years, 1997 to 2001.[3][4] After several surgeries and long recoveries, Hingis returned to the WTA tour in 2006, climbing to world No. 6, winning two Tier I tournaments, and also receiving the Laureus World Sports Award for Comeback of the Year.[5] She retired in November 2007 after being hampered by a hip injury for several months and testing positive for a metabolite of cocaine during that year’s Wimbledon Championships, which led to a two-year suspension from the sport.

In July 2013, Hingis came out of retirement to play the doubles events of the North American hard-court season.[6][7] During her doubles comeback, she won four Grand Slam women’s doubles tournaments, six Grand Slam mixed doubles tournaments (completing the Career Grand Slam), 27 WTA titles, and the silver medal in women’s doubles at the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro. Hingis retired after the 2017 WTA Finals while ranked world No. 1.[8]

Widely considered an all-time tennis great, Hingis was ranked by Tennis magazine in 2005 as the 8th-greatest female player of the preceding 40 years. She was named one of the “30 Legends of Women’s Tennis: Past, Present and Future” by TIME in June 2011.[9] In 2013, Hingis was elected into the International Tennis Hall of Fame, and was appointed two years later the organization’s first ever Global Ambassador.[10][11]

Contents

Childhood and early career

Hingis was born in Koice, Czechoslovakia (now in Slovakia) as Martina Hingisov,[12] to Melanie Molitorov and Karol Hingis, both of whom were tennis players.[13][better source needed] Molitorov was a professional tennis player who was once ranked tenth among women in Czechoslovakia, and was determined to develop Hingis into a top player as early as pregnancy.[14] Her father was ranked as high as 19th in the Czechoslovak tennis rankings. Martina Hingis spent her early childhood growing up in the town of Ronov pod Radhotm (now in Czech Republic).[15] Hingis’s parents divorced when she was six, and she and her mother defected from Czechoslovakia in 1987[16] and emigrated to Trbbach (Wartau) in Switzerland when she was seven.[14] Her mother remarried to a Swiss man, Andreas Zogg, a computer technician.[17] Hingis acquired Swiss citizenship through naturalization.

Hingis began playing tennis when she was two years old and entered her first tournament at age four.[18] In 1993, 12-year-old Hingis became the youngest player to win a Grand Slam junior title: the girls’ singles at the French Open.[19] In 1994, she retained her French Open junior title, won the girls’ singles title at Wimbledon, and reached the final of the US Open.[20][21]

She made her WTA debut at the Zurich Open in October 1994, two weeks after turning 14,[20][22][23] and ended 1994 ranked world No. 87.[21]

Grand Slam success and period of dominance

1996

In 1996, Hingis became the youngest Grand Slam champion of all time, when she teamed with Helena Sukov at Wimbledon to win the women’s doubles title at age 15 years and 9 months.[24] She also won her first professional singles title that year at Filderstadt, Germany. She reached the singles quarterfinals of the 1996 Australian Open and the singles semifinals of the 1996 US Open. Following her win at Filderstadt, Hingis defeated the reigning Australian Open champion and co-top ranked (with Steffi Graf) Monica Seles in the final in Oakland, but lost to Graf in the year-end WTA Tour Championships final in five sets.[25]

1997

In 1997, Hingis became the undisputed World No. 1 women’s tennis player. She started the year by winning the warm-up tournament in Sydney. She then became the youngest Grand Slam singles winner in the 20th century by winning the Australian Open at age 16 years and 3 months (beating former champion Mary Pierce in the final). She also won the Australian Open women’s doubles with Natasha Zvereva.[26] In March, she became the youngest top ranked player in history. In July, she became the youngest singles champion at Wimbledon since Lottie Dod in 1887 by beating Jana Novotn in the final. She then defeated another up-and-coming player, Venus Williams, in the final of the US Open. The only Grand Slam singles title that Hingis failed to win in 1997 was the French Open, where she lost in the final to Iva Majoli.

1998

In 1998, Hingis won all four of the Grand Slam women’s doubles titles, only the fourth in women’s tennis history to do so,[27] (the Australian Open with Mirjana Lui and the other three events with Novotn), and she became only the third woman to hold the No. 1 ranking in both singles and doubles simultaneously. She also retained her Australian Open singles title by beating Conchita Martnez in straight sets in the final. Hingis, however, lost in the final of the US Open to Lindsay Davenport. Davenport ended an 80-week stretch Hingis had enjoyed as the No. 1 singles player in October 1998, but Hingis finished the year by beating Davenport in the final of the WTA Tour Championships.[citation needed]

1999

Martina Hingis (right) with doubles partner Anna Kournikova at the Sydney WTA tournament, 2002

1999 saw Hingis win her third successive Australian Open singles crown as well as the doubles title (with Anna Kournikova). She had dropped her former doubles partner Jana Novotn.[28]She then reached the French Open final and was three points away from victory in the second set before losing to Steffi Graf about whom she had said before: “Steffi had some results in the past, but it’s a faster, more athletic game now… She is old now. Her time has passed.” She broke into tears after a game in which the crowd had booed her for using underhand serves and crossing the line in a discussion about an umpire decision.[29] After a shock first-round, straight set, loss to Jelena Doki at Wimbledon,[30] Hingis bounced back to reach her third consecutive US Open final, where she lost to 17-year-old Serena Williams. Hingis won a total of seven singles titles that year and reclaimed the No. 1 singles ranking. She also reached the final of the WTA Tour Championships, where she lost to Lindsay Davenport.[citation needed]

2000

In 2000, Hingis again found herself in both the singles and doubles finals at the Australian Open. This time, however, she lost both. Her three-year hold on the singles championship ended when she lost to Davenport. Later, Hingis and Mary Pierce, her new doubles partner, lost to Lisa Raymond and Rennae Stubbs. Hingis captured the French Open women’s doubles title with Pierce and produced consistent results in singles tournaments throughout the year. She reached the quarterfinals at Wimbledon before losing to Venus Williams. Although she did not win a Grand Slam singles tournament, she kept the year end No. 1 ranking because of nine tournament championships, including the WTA Tour Championships where she won the singles and doubles titles.[citation needed]

Injuries and first retirement from tennis

2001

In 2001, Switzerland, with Hingis and Roger Federer on its team, won the Hopman Cup.[31] Hingis didn’t drop a set in any of her singles matches during the event, defeating Tamarine Tanasugarn, Nicole Pratt, Amanda Coetzer, and Monica Seles.[32] In 2018, after his second Hopman Cup victory, Federer was quoted as saying: “I learned a lot from her, especially the two years I was here – once as a hitting partner and once as a partner with Martina. Definitely she helped me to become the player I am today.”[33]

Hingis reached her fifth consecutive Australian Open final in 2001, defeating both of the Williams sisters en route, before losing to Jennifer Capriati. She briefly ended her coaching relationship with her mother Melanie early in the year[34] but had a change of heart two months later just before the French Open. 2001 was her least successful year in several seasons, with only three tournament victories in total. She lost her No. 1 ranking for the last time (to Jennifer Capriati) on 14 October 2001. In that same month, Hingis underwent surgery on her right ankle.

2002

Coming back from injury, Hingis won the Australian Open doubles final at the start of 2002 (again teaming with Anna Kournikova) and reached a sixth straight Australian Open final in singles, again facing Capriati. Hingis led by a set and 4-0 and had four match points but lost in three sets. In May 2002, she needed another ankle ligament operation, this time on her left ankle. After that, she continued to struggle with injuries and was not able to recapture her best form.

2003

In February 2003, at the age of 22, Hingis announced her retirement from tennis, due to her injuries and being in pain.[35] “I want to play tennis only for fun and concentrate more on horse riding and finish my studies.”[36] In several interviews, she indicated that she wished to return to her home country and coach full-time.[37]

During this segment of her tennis career, Hingis won 40 singles titles and 36 doubles events. She held the world No. 1 singles ranking for a total of 209 weeks (fifth most following Steffi Graf, Martina Navratilova (after whom she was named), Chris Evert, and Serena Williams).[2] In 2005, Tennis magazine put her in 22nd place in its list of 40 Greatest Players of the Tennis era.

Return to the game

Martina Hingis at the Australian Open, 2006

2005

In February 2005, Hingis made an unsuccessful return to competition at an event in Pattaya, Thailand, where she lost to Germany’s Marlene Weingrtner in the first round. After the loss, she claimed that she had no further plans for a comeback.

Hingis, however, resurfaced in July, playing singles, doubles, and mixed doubles in World Team Tennis and notching up singles victories over two top 100 players and shutting out Martina Navratilova in singles on 7 July. With these promising results behind her, Hingis announced on 29 November her return to the WTA Tour in 2006.

2006

At the Australian Open, Hingis lost in the quarterfinals to second-seeded Kim Clijsters. However, Hingis won the mixed doubles title with Mahesh Bhupathi of India. This was her first career Grand Slam mixed doubles title and fifteenth overall (5 singles, 9 women’s doubles, 1 mixed doubles).

The week after the Australian Open, Hingis defeated world No. 4 Maria Sharapova in the semifinals of the Tier I Toray Pan Pacific Open in Tokyo before losing in the final to world No. 9 Elena Dementieva. Hingis competed in Dubai then, reaching the quarterfinals before falling to Sharapova. At the Tier I Pacific Life Open in Indian Wells, Hingis defeated World No. 4 Lindsay Davenport in the fourth round before again losing to Sharapova in the semifinals.

Martina Hingis at the Zurich Open, 2006


At the Tier I Internazionali BNL d’Italia in Rome, Hingis posted her 500th career singles match victory in the quarterfinals, beating world No. 18 Flavia Pennetta, and subsequently won the tournament with wins over Venus Williams in the semifinals and Dinara Safina in the final. This was her 41st WTA Tour singles title and first in more than four years. Hingis then reached the quarterfinals of the French Open before losing to Kim Clijsters.

At Wimbledon, Hingis lost in the third round to Ai Sugiyama.

Hingis’s return to the US Open was short lived, as she was upset in the second round by world No. 112 Virginie Razzano of France.

In her first tournament after the US Open, Hingis won the second title of her comeback at the Tier III Sunfeast Open in Kolkata, India. She defeated unseeded Russian Olga Puchkova in the final. The following week in Seoul, Hingis notched her 50th match win of the year before losing in the second round to Sania Mirza.

Hingis qualified for the year-ending WTA Tour Championships in Madrid as the 8th seed. In her round robin matches, she lost in three sets to both Justine Henin and Amlie Mauresmo but defeated Nadia Petrova.

Hingis ended the year ranked world No. 7. She also finished eighth in prize money earnings (US$1,159,537). Hingis also ranked as No. 7 on the Annual Top Google News Searches in 2006.[38]

2007

Martina Hingis in Miami, Florida, 2007


At the Australian Open, Hingis won her first three rounds without losing a set before defeating China’s Li Na in the fourth round. Hingis then lost a quarterfinal match to Kim Clijsters. This was the second consecutive year that Hingis had lost to Clijsters in the quarterfinals of the Australian Open[39] and the third time in the last five Grand Slam tournaments that Clijsters had eliminated Hingis in the quarterfinals.

Hingis won her next tournament, the Tier I Toray Pan Pacific Open in Tokyo, defeating Ana Ivanovic in the final. This was Hingis’s record fifth singles title at this event.

A hip injury that troubled her at the German Open caused her to withdraw from the Rome Masters, where she was the defending champion, and the French Open, the only important singles title that eluded her.

In her first round match at Wimbledon, Hingis saved two match points to defeat British wildcard Naomi Cavaday, apparently not having fully recovered from the hip injury that prevented her from playing the French Open.[40] In the third round, Hingis lost to Laura Granville of the United States, and stated afterwards she should not have entered the tournament.[41]

Hingis’s next tournament was the last Grand Slam tournament of the year, the US Open, in which Hingis lost in the third round to Belarusian teenager Victoria Azarenka. Hingis did not play any tournaments after the China Open, as she was beset by injuries for the rest of the year.[42]

ITF suspension and second retirement

In November 2007, Hingis called a press conference to announce that she was under investigation for testing positive for benzoylecgonine, a metabolite of cocaine, during a urine test taken by players at Wimbledon.[43] Hingis’ urine sample contained an estimated 42 nanograms per millilitre of benzoylecgonine. The International Tennis Federation‘s report on the matter states that “the very low estimated concentration of benzoylecgonine (42 ng/ml) was such that it would go unreported in many drug testing programmes such as that of the US military, which uses a screening threshold of 150 ng/ml.”[43] As the amount was so low, Hingis appealed, arguing the likely cause was contamination rather than intentional ingestion.[44] In January 2008, the ITF’s tribunal suspended Hingis from the sport for two years, effective from October 2007.[45][46]

2008-09

Having retired for the second time in 2007, Hingis played an exhibition match at the Liverpool International tournament on 13 June 2008. Although this event was a warm-up for Wimbledon, it was not part of the WTA Tour. In a rematch of their 1997 Wimbledon final, Hingis defeated Jana Novotn.[47]

In 2009, Hingis took part in the British television dancing competition Strictly Come Dancing. She was the bookies’ favourite for the competition,[48] but went out in the first week after performing a waltz and a rumba.[49]

2010

At the start of 2010, Hingis defeated former world No. 1 Lindsay Davenport, and hinted at a possible return to tennis. In February, she announced having committed to a full season with the World TeamTennis tour in 2010.[50] She had previously played for World TeamTennis in 2005 to assist her first comeback. Sparking thoughts that she was trying to come back to the WTA Tour, she committed to playing at the Nottingham Masters.[51] On 5 May 2010, it was announced that Hingis would reunite with her doubles partner Anna Kournikova. Kournikova was participating in competitive tennis for the first time in seven years, in the Invitational Ladies Doubles event at Wimbledon.[52][53] Hingis also confirmed that she would play at the Tradition-ICAP Liverpool International championship in June 2010, preceding Wimbledon,[54] before playing in the Manchester Masters after Wimbledon.[55] Liverpool like the Nottingham and Manchester Masters are organised by her management company Northern Vision.[56] At the Nottingham Masters, Hingis faced Michalla Krajicek[57][58] (twice), Olga Savchuk[59] and Monika Wejnert.[60] Hingis won just once in the event, against Wejnert. After the Nottingham event, Billie Jean King stated that she believed that Hingis might return to the WTA Tour on the doubles circuit, after competing in the WTT.[61]

2011

Martina Hingis with the New York Sportimes, 2011


On 5 June 2011, Hingis, paired with Lindsay Davenport, won the Roland Garros Women’s Legends title, defeating Martina Navratilova and Jana Novotn in the final. Before facing Navratilova/Novotn, Hingis and Davenport won two round-robin matches in the tournament: first against Gigi Fernndez/Natasha Zvereva, and then in the next match they prevailed over Andrea Temesvri/Sandrine Testud and 10:0 in the super tie-break.[62][63]

On 3 July, Hingis partnering Lindsay Davenport won the Wimbledon Ladies’ Invitation Doubles title, defeating Navratilova and Novotn in the final.[64]She also played for the New York Sportimes of the World TeamTennis Pro League in July 2011. She finished the season with the top winning percentage of any player competing in women’s singles.

2012

Hingis and Davenport successfully defended their Wimbledon Ladies’ Invitation Doubles title in 2012, again beating Martina Navratilova and Jana Novotn in the final.

Second return and doubles success

2013: Coming out of retirement

Hingis practicing at the Rogers Cup in Toronto, August 2013


In April 2013, Hingis agreed to coach Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova;[65] however, after a disagreement about how to prepare for tournaments they parted ways in June.[66]

Hingis won the Ladies’ Invitation Doubles for a third year in a row at Wimbledon, again with Davenport. They beat Jana Novotn and Barbara Schett in the final. Hingis was inducted into the International Tennis Hall of Fame in July 2013, and in the same month, announced that she was coming out of retirement to play a doubles tournament, with Daniela Hantuchov as her partner, in Carlsbad, California. She was accepted as a wildcard entry. She also played doubles in Toronto, Cincinnati, New Haven, and the US Open.

2014: US Open doubles finalist

Hingis helped Sabine Lisicki during the Australian Open. She participated in Champions Tennis League India to boost tennis in the country.[67]

Hingis at Aegon International Tennis, June 2014


Hingis returned to the WTA Tour at Indian Wells, partnering Lisicki in the doubles. They lost in the first round to three-time Grand Slam finalists Ashleigh Barty and Casey Dellacqua. At the Sony Open in Miami, Hingis and Lisicki reached the finals of the tournament and then defeated Makarova and Vesnina in straight sets, marking Hingis’ first title since she won the Qatar Ladies Open in 2007 and her first Premier Mandatory doubles title since winning the 2001 title in Moscow. This was also her third win in Miami, having won her last title there in 1999.

Hingis reached the final at Eastbourne with Pennetta where they lost to Chan Hao-ching and Chan Yung-jan of Taiwan. At the Wimbledon Championships, she reached the quarterfinals with partner Bruno Soares in mixed doubles, where they lost to Daniel Nestor and Kristina Mladenovic in straight sets.

Entering as an unseeded team at the US Open, Hingis and Pennetta reached the final, without losing a set in any of their matches. In the final they lost to Makarova and Vesnina in three sets.

At the latter end of the season, Hingis and Flavia Pennetta won two titles. At the tournament in Wuhan, they beat Cara Black and Caroline Garcia to take the title; in Moscow they beat Caroline Garcia and Arantxa Parra Santonja.

2015: Five Major doubles titles

Hingis and Mirza after winning the 2015 Wimbledon doubles title


In Hingis’ first tournament of the year in Brisbane, she and partner Sabine Lisicki didn’t drop a set en route to the title, beating Caroline Garcia and Katarina Srebotnik in straight sets in the final. Hingis played at the Australian Open with Flavia Pennetta, as the 4th seeds, but lost in the third round. However, Hingis paired with Leander Paes in the mixed doubles to win the title. The win was her first in a Grand Slam event since capturing the mixed-doubles crown at the 2006 Australian Open.

After early exits with Pennetta at the Dubai Tennis Championships and Qatar Ladies Open, Hingis then partnered with Indian player Sania Mirza; they won the first 20 sets they contested, subsequently winning back-to-back titles in two WTA Premier Mandatory events: the BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells and the Miami Open, also winning afterwise the Family Circle Cup. They were defeated in the first round in Stuttgart. At the Madrid Open they lost in the quarterfinals to Australian Open champions Bethanie Mattek-Sands and Lucie afov 11-9 in the super tie-break. They reached the quarterfinals of the French Open, losing again to Mattek-Sands and afov, this time in straight sets.

Hingis made a comeback in Fed Cup after a 17-year absence. She was scheduled to play doubles only, but then decided to try another comeback in singles by playing in the Fed Cup tie for Switzerland. She drew Agnieszka Radwaska in the first rubber and was defeated in two sets in her first official tour match since 2007. She lost her second singles rubber too, defeated by Urszula Radwaska in three sets, having been a set and a double break up.

On 11 July 2015, Hingis and Mirza beat Makarova and Vesnina in three tight sets recovering from 5-2 down in the third to win the women’s doubles tournament at Wimbledon. The win gave Hingis her first Grand Slam in women’s doubles since the 2002 Australian Open. The following day, Hingis then won the mixed doubles final partnering with Leander Paes to defeat Alexander Peya and Tmea Babos in straight sets.

After two semifinal losses in Toronto and Cincinnati, Hingis won the mixed doubles title at the US Open on 12 September, partnering Paes, defeating Sam Querrey and Bethanie Mattek-Sands in three sets. The following day, Hingis and Mirza beat Casey Dellacqua and Yaroslava Shvedova in straight sets to win the doubles tournament.[68] At the WTA Finals, they won all their group matches, including against Kops-Jones/Spears, Hlavackova/Hradecka and Babos/Mladenovic. In the semifinals they beat the Chan sisters, and then they beat the Spanish team Muguruza/Suarez Navarro to win the title. That month Hingis participated at the Champions Tennis League in India, playing for the Hyderabad Aces team.[69]

2016: Mixed-doubles Career Grand Slam

In January, Hingis and Mirza won at Brisbane and Sydney. They then won the doubles tournament at the Australian Open, defeating Hlavkov and Hradeck in the final, for their third consecutive Grand Slam title. Afterwards, Hingis said of their partnership: “There’s not that many people who can match her in the forehand rallies and me on the backhand side and at the net. That’s what we try to do every match.”[70] In mixed doubles, Hingis and Paes lost in the quarterfinals to Mirza and Ivan Dodig.

In February, Hingis represented Switzerland in the Fed Cup tie against Germany alongside Belinda Bencic and Timea Bacsinszky. Switzerland beat Germany 3-2, with Hingis and Bencic clinching the doubles rubber. Switzerland advanced to the semifinals, where the team lost to the defending champions the Czech Republic.

The Hingis-Mirza winning-streak record of 41 matches ended in the quarterfinals of the Qatar Total Open, where they lost to Kasatkina/Vesnina.[71] Hingis and Mirza then proceeded to the BNP Paribas Open to defend their title. However, they suffered a shock as the unseeded Vania King/Alla Kudryavtseva defeated them in straight sets, 7-6(7), 6-4.

At the Miami Open, Mirza and Hingis lost in the second round to Margarita Gasparyan and Monica Niculescu.

Hingis and Mirza started their clay season by reaching the finals of Porsche Tennis Grand Prix and Mutua Madrid Open, where they lost to Kristina Mladenovic and Caroline Garcia in both the tournaments. However, they won the Italian Open, defeating Makarova and Vesnina. At the French Open, they were upset by Czech pair Barbora Krejkov and Kateina Siniakov in the third round, which ended their 20 match winning streak in Grand Slam doubles tournaments.

Hingis won the French Open mixed doubles partnering Leander Paes. It is her first mixed doubles title at Roland Garros, and she completed the mixed-doubles Career Grand Slam, becoming only the fourth woman ever to complete a career grand slam in both women’s doubles and mixed doubles.

Hingis qualified for the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, 20 years after her last Olympic appearance.[72] She played doubles with Timea Bacsinszky and won the silver medal, losing to Ekaterina Makarova and Elena Vesnina in straight sets in the final. Hingis then played at the US Open with CoCo Vandeweghe, where they made the semifinals and lost to top seeds Garcia and Mladenovic. At the WTA Finals, Hingis reunited with Sania Mirza in what would be the partnership’s last tournament together; they defeated the Chan sisters in the quarterfinals but then lost to Makarova and Vesnina.

2017: Three Major doubles titles, back to world No. 1 & final retirement

Hingis continued to partner CoCo Vandeweghe in women’s doubles competition at the start of the season.[73] Together they reached the quarterfinals of the Sydney International, losing to eventual champions Tmea Babos and Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova,[74] and the second round of the Australian Open, losing to the Australian duo of Ashleigh Barty and Casey Dellacqua.[75][76] This capped a run of poor form, having gone 5-5 in tournaments since they made the semifinals at the US Open the previous season. As a result, Hingis split with Vandeweghe and entered a new partnership with Taiwan‘s Chan Yung-jan, who herself had just split with her sister Chan Hao-ching.[77] In the mixed doubles competition at the Australian Open, Hingis reached the quarterfinals with Leander Paes before losing to another Australian duo, Samantha Stosur and Sam Groth in straight sets.[78]

In preparation for the upcoming Fed Cup quarterfinal match between Switzerland and France, Hingis partnered with Belinda Bencic to defend her St. Petersburg title. The pair lost in the first round to Gabriela Dabrowski and Michalla Krajicek.[79] In the Fed Cup quarterfinal match, Hingis instead paired up with Timea Bacsinszky and won their doubles match against Amandine Hesse and Kristina Mladenovic, helping the team to a 4-1 victory to advance to the semifinals.[80]

In the first two tournaments of their new partnership, Hingis and Chan suffered some “tough” losses.[81] They fell to Olga Savchuk and Yaroslava Shvedova in the semifinals of the Qatar Open[82] and to Andrea Hlavkov and Peng Shuai in straight sets in the quarterfinals of the Dubai Tennis Championships.[83] However, they immediately rebounded by winning their first title together at the Indian Wells Open, defeating Hingis’ old partner Sania Mirza with Barbora Strcov in the quarterfinals,[84] top seeded Mattek-Sands and afov in the semifinals,[85] and Czech pair Lucie Hradeck and Kateina Siniakov in the final.[86] They then reached the semifinals of the Miami Open, before losing to Mirza and Strcov.[87]

Hingis again sought to practice with a Swiss partner before the Fed Cup semifinal clash of Switzerland versus Belarus, and this time paired up with Bacsinszky to enter the inaugural Ladies Open Biel Bienne.[88][89] Hingis and Bacsinszky reached the final, succumbing there to Hsieh Su-wei and Monica Niculescu.[90] Despite winning her doubles rubber with Bacsinszky in the Fed Cup semifinal tie, Switzerland would ultimately lose 2-3. Switzerland had been seeking to reach its first final since Hingis had spearheaded the team to a narrow defeat to Spain in 1998.[91]

In the clay-court season, Hingis and Chan continued their good form to win back-to-back titles at the Madrid and Italian Opens, defeating Tmea Babos and Andrea Hlavkov and Ekaterina Makarova and Elena Vesnina respectively, in the finals of each event.[92][93] Hingis’ victory in Madrid was her 100th WTA career title.[94] This success marked the pair as one of the pre-tournament favorites to win the French Open.[95] Hingis and Chan reached the semifinals, where their 12 match winning streak was ended by eventual champions Mattek-Sands and afov.[96][97] Hingis and Paes lost in the opening round of the mixed doubles competition to Katarina Srebotnik and Raven Klaasen in a super tiebreak.[98]

Hingis and Chan again won back-to-back titles, this time at the Mallorca Open and the Eastbourne International. At Mallorca, they won the title by walkover after Jelena Jankovi and Anastasija Sevastova withdrew from the title match due to an injury sustained by Sevastova in the singles competition.[99] At Eastbourne, they won after defeating Barty and Dellacqua in the final.[100][101] However, like the French Open two months previous, Hingis and Chan could not replicate the success at Grand Slam level: losing at the quarterfinal stage to Grnefeld and Peschke at Wimbledon.[102] In the mixed doubles competition, Hingis paired up with new partner Great Britain‘s Jamie Murray after splitting from Leander Paes.[103] As top seeds they reached the final without losing a set,[104][105][106][107] before defeating defending champions Heather Watson and Henri Kontinen in the championship match.[108]

Hingis and Chan next played at the Canadian Open, where the German-Czech pair of Grnefeld and Peschke defeated them for the second tournament in a row in the quarterfinals.[109] However, not to be deterred, a week later at the Cincinnati Open they produced another winning run and defeated Hsieh and Niculescu in the final to capture their next title together.[110] On 14 August, Hingis and Chan became one of the first teams to qualify for the doubles competition at the year-end WTA Finals.[111]

At the US Open, Hingis emerged victorious from both the women’s and the mixed doubles competition.[112] Jamie Murray and she defeated Chan Hao-ching and Michael Venus in the final to capture their second consecutive title together and remain undefeated as a pair.[113] Then, less than 24 hours later with Chan, they defeated Hradeck and Siniakov in the final to win their first Major title together. In total, this was Hingis’s 25th Grand Slam title across all disciplines.[114]

Hingis and Chan extended their winning run to 18 matches in China by winning their third and fourth straight titles: the Wuhan and China Opens. In Wuhan, they defeated Shuko Aoyama and Yang Zhaoxuan in the final. With this win, Hingis ascended to the No. 1 ranking on 2 October for the 67th week in her career.[115] In Beijing, they defeated Babos and Hlavkov.[116]

Hingis announced her retirement at the WTA finals in Singapore in October, 2017.[117]

Career statistics

Singles performance timeline

KeyW F SFQF#RRRQ#APZ#POGF-SSF-BNMSNHul{list-style-type:none;margin-left:0}.mw-parser-output .refbegin-hanging-indents>ul>li,.mw-parser-output .refbegin-hanging-indents>dl>dd{margin-left:0;padding-left:3.2em;text-indent:-3.2em;list-style:none}.mw-parser-output .refbegin-100{font-size:100%}]]>Tournament19941995199619971998199920002001200220032004200520062007SRW-L;”>2RQFWWWFFFAAAQFQF3 / 1052-7French OpenA3R3RFSFFSFSFAAAAQFA0 / 835-8WimbledonA1R4RWSF1RQF1RAAAA3R3R1 / 923-8US OpenA4RSFWFFSFSF4RAAA2R3R1 / 1043-9Grand Slam W-L0-06-414-427-123-319-320-416-49-20-00-00-011-48-35 / 37; text-align:left;”>WTA Tour ChampionshipsDNQDNQFQFWFWAAAAARRA2 / 616-5

  • SR = the ratio of the number of singles tournaments won to the number played
  • 2If ITF women’s circuit (Hardcourt: 12-2; Carpet: 6-1) and Fed Cup (10-0) participations are included, overall win-loss record stands at 548-133.

Grand Slam singles finals: 12 (5-7)

OutcomeYearTournamentSurfaceOpponentScoreWinner1997Australian OpenHardFrance Mary Pierce6-2, 6-2Runner-up1997French OpenClayCroatia Iva Majoli4-6, 2-6Winner1997WimbledonGrassCzech Republic Jana Novotn2-6, 6-3, 6-3Winner1997US OpenHardUnited States Venus Williams6-0, 6-4Winner1998Australian Open (2)HardSpain Conchita Martnez6-3, 6-3Runner-up1998US OpenHardUnited States Lindsay Davenport3-6, 5-7Winner1999Australian Open (3)HardFrance Amlie Mauresmo6-2, 6-3Runner-up1999French OpenClayGermany Steffi Graf6-4, 5-7, 2-6Runner-up1999US OpenHardUnited States Serena Williams3-6, 6-7(4-7)Runner-up2000Australian OpenHardUnited States Lindsay Davenport1-6, 5-7Runner-up2001Australian OpenHardUnited States Jennifer Capriati4-6, 3-6Runner-up2002Australian OpenHardUnited States Jennifer Capriati6-4, 6-7(7-9), 2-6

Doubles

Tournament1994199519961997199819992000200120022003–0620072008–1220132014201520162017SRW-L; text-align:left;”>French OpenAAQFSFWFWAAAAAAAQF3RSF2 / 833-6WimbledonA2RWQFWA2RAAAAAA1RWQFQF3 / 929-6US OpenA3RSFSFWA3RQFQFA3RA1RFWSFW3 / 1347-9Grand Slam W-L0-03-313-317-324-011-114-27-29-10-03-20-00-15-217-215-314-3; text-align:left;”>Tour ChampionshipsAAQFQFQFWWAAAAAAAWSFSF3 / 813-5

Grand Slam doubles finals: 16 finals (13-3)

By winning the 1998 US Open title, Hingis completed the doubles Career Grand Slam, becoming the 17th female player in history to achieve this, as well as the youngest. It also meant she completed the Calendar Year Grand Slam, becoming the fourth woman in history to achieve the feat in doubles.

OutcomeYearChampionshipSurfacePartnerOpponentsScoreWinner1996WimbledonGrassCzech Republic Helena SukovUnited States Meredith McGrath
Latvia Larisa Savchenko Neiland5-7, 7-5, 6-1Winner1997Australian OpenHardBelarus Natasha ZverevaUnited States Lindsay Davenport
United States Lisa Raymond6-2, 6-2Winner1998Australian Open (2)HardCroatia Mirjana Lui United States Lindsay Davenport
Belarus Natasha Zvereva 6-4, 2-6, 6-3Winner1998French Open ClayCzechoslovakia Jana Novotn United States Lindsay Davenport
Belarus Natasha Zvereva 6-1, 7-6(7-4)Winner1998Wimbledon (2) GrassCzechoslovakia Jana Novotn United States Lindsay Davenport
Belarus Natasha Zvereva6-3, 3-6, 8-6Winner1998US OpenHardCzechoslovakia Jana Novotn United States Lindsay Davenport
Belarus Natasha Zvereva 6-3, 6-3Winner1999Australian Open (3)HardRussia Anna KournikovaUnited States Lindsay Davenport
Belarus Natasha Zvereva7-5, 6-3Runner-up1999French OpenClayRussia Anna KournikovaUnited States Serena Williams
United States Venus Williams3-6, 7-6(7-2), 6-8Runner-up2000Australian OpenHardFrance Mary PierceUnited States Lisa Raymond
Australia Rennae Stubbs4-6, 7-5, 4-6Winner2000French Open (2)ClayFrance Mary PierceSpain Virginia Ruano Pascual
Argentina Paola Surez6-2, 6-4Winner2002Australian Open (4)HardRussia Anna KournikovaSlovakia Daniela Hantuchov
Spain Arantxa Snchez Vicario6-2, 6-7(4-7), 6-1Runner-up2014US OpenHardItaly Flavia PennettaRussia Ekaterina Makarova
Russia Elena Vesnina6-2, 3-6, 2-6Winner2015Wimbledon (3)GrassIndia Sania MirzaRussia Ekaterina Makarova
Russia Elena Vesnina5-7, 7-6(7-4), 7-5Winner2015US Open (2)HardIndia Sania MirzaAustralia Casey Dellacqua
Kazakhstan Yaroslava Shvedova6-3, 6-3Winner2016Australian Open (5)HardIndia Sania MirzaCzech Republic Andrea Hlavkov
Czech Republic Lucie Hradeck7-6(7-1), 6-3Winner2017US Open (3)HardChinese Taipei Chan Yung-janCzech Republic Lucie Hradeck
Czech Republic Kateina Siniakov6-3, 6-2

Mixed doubles

Tournament199619971998–9920002001–0520062007–1220132014201520162017SRW-LAustralian OpenAAAAAWAAAWQFQF2 / 414-2French OpenQFAAAA2RAAA2RW1R1 / 59-3Wimbledon2RQFAAAAAAQFW3RW2 / 617-4US OpenSFAAQFAAA1RAW2RW2 / 614-3Win-Loss6-33-10-02-00-06-00-00-12-114-19-312-27 / 2154-12

Mixed doubles: 7 finals (7-0)

By winning the 2016 French Open title, Hingis completed the mixed doubles Career Grand Slam. She became the 7th female player in history to achieve this.

OutcomeYearChampionshipSurfacePartnerOpponentsScoreWinner2006Australian OpenHardIndia Mahesh BhupathiRussia Elena Likhovtseva
Canada Daniel Nestor6-3, 6-3Winner2015Australian Open (2)HardIndia Leander PaesFrance Kristina Mladenovic
Canada Daniel Nestor6-4, 6-3Winner2015WimbledonGrassIndia Leander PaesHungary Tmea Babos
Austria Alexander Peya6-1, 6-1Winner2015US OpenHardIndia Leander PaesUnited States Bethanie Mattek-Sands
United States Sam Querrey6-4, 3-6, Winner2016French OpenClayIndia Leander PaesIndia Sania Mirza
Croatia Ivan Dodig4-6, 6-4, Winner2017Wimbledon (2)GrassUnited Kingdom Jamie MurrayUnited Kingdom Heather Watson
Finland Henri Kontinen6-4, 6-4Winner2017US Open (2)HardUnited Kingdom Jamie MurrayChinese Taipei Chan Hao-ching
New Zealand Michael Venus6-1, 4-6,

Records

  • These records were attained in Open Era of tennis.

Grand SlamYearsRecord accomplishedPlayer tiedAustralian Open1997-993 consecutive titlesMargaret Court
Evonne Goolagong Cawley
Steffi Graf
Monica SelesAustralian Open1997-20026 consecutive finalsEvonne Goolagong CawleyGrand Slam19972 wins without losing a set in the same calendar yearBillie Jean King
Martina Navratilova
Steffi Graf
Serena Williams
Justine HeninGrand Slam1997Reached all four Grand Slam finals in a calendar yearMargaret Court
Chris Evert
Martina Navratilova
Steffi Graf
Monica Seles
Justine HeninGrand Slam1998Calendar Year Women’s Doubles Grand SlamMartina Navratilova
Pam Shriver

  • By winning Wimbledon doubles title in 1996 with Helena Sukov became youngest doubles winner at 15 years, 282 days and youngest ever Grand Slam winner.[118]
  • By winning Australian singles title in 1997, became youngest winner there in tennis history at 16 years and 3 months.[119]
  • By defeating Monica Seles 6-2, 6-1 in 1997 at Key Biscayne, ascended the no. 1 spot as the youngest ever in tennis history.
  • By winning the US Open against Venus Williams in 1997, Hingis contended all Grand Slam tournament finals that year; second youngest winner in the US Open at 16 years, 11 months and 8 days.[120]
  • Won the Australian and US Open in 1997 without losing a set.
  • In 1997, from Sydney to the final of Roland Garros had a 37-match winning streak, best from 1995 until present.
  • By winning the US Open doubles title in 1998 with Jana Novotn, completed a doubles Grand Slam, third player in the Open Era.
  • Held simultaneously the no. 1 position for singles and doubles in 1998.
  • Most successful player to play the Toray Pan-Pacific Tournament with 5 wins in 1997, 1999, 2000, 2002, 2007, and reached 8 finals in 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2006, 2007.
  • Compiled 103 top-10 wins (behind Serena Williams 164, Lindsay Davenport 129, and Venus Williams 127), 43 singles titles, 64 doubles titles, 7 mixed doubles titles, and 209 weeks at no.1 (5th behind Steffi Graf, Martina Navratilova, Chris Evert and Serena Williams).[2]
  • In 2015, won three Grand Slam Mixed Doubles title with Leander Paes, an accomplishment last achieved in 1969 by Margaret Court and Marty Riessen
  • Most Mixed Doubles titles (2) won by a woman player in Open Era in Australian Open
  • Only player in the Open Era to win the Australian Open singles and doubles titles three consecutive years.
    • 1997 (S) d. Pierce, (D) w/Zvereva d. Davenport/Raymond
    • 1998 (S) d. Martinez, (D) w/Lui d. Davenport/Zvereva
    • 1999 (S) d. Mauresmo, (D) w/Kournikova d. Davenport/Zvereva

Awards

Notable accolades

  • Except for the French Open, she won every major WTA Tour singles title at least once during her career (Grand Slam tournaments, WTA Tour Championships, and Tier I tournaments).
  • Except for Berlin, she won every major WTA Tour doubles title at least once during her career (Grand Slam tournaments, WTA Tour Championships, and Tier I tournaments).
  • By reaching the 2016 French Open mixed doubles finals, Hingis joined an elite group of players who have reached the finals in all 4 Grand Slams across singles, doubles, and mixed doubles.

Equipment endorsements

In the 1990s, Hingis was sponsored by Sergio Tacchini. She sued the company in 2001, demanding $40 million for making allegedly defective shoes that injured her feet.[123] In 1998 she suffered a foot injury, and she withdrew from the Wimbledon doubles competition in 1999; Hingis alleged that a Tacchini-appointed specialist recommended her shoes be changed, a recommendation which was ignored by the company, which had fired her as spokeswoman in April 1999 due to an alleged breach of contract. Hingis and Tacchini settled in 2005 for an undisclosed amount of money.[124] She was sponsored by Adidas from 1999 until 2008.

Hingis’s current on-court apparel is manufactured by Tonic Lifestyle Apparel; having her own clothing line: Tonic by Martina Hingis.[125] She is sponsored by Yonex for racquets and shoes.[126][127]

Personal life

In 2000, Hingis dated Swedish tennis player Magnus Norman[128] and Spanish golfer Sergio Garca. She was briefly engaged to Czech tennis player Radek tpnek, but split up with him in August 2007.[129] She dated former tennis players Ivo Heuberger, Justin Gimelstob,[130] and Julin Alonso.[131]

On 10 December 2010, in Paris, Hingis married then-24-year-old Thibault Hutin, a French equestrian show jumper she had met at a competition the previous April.[132]On 8 July 2013, Hingis told the Swiss newspaper Schweizer Illustrierte the pair had been separated since the beginning of the year.[133] In 2017 it was reported that she was dating Spaniard David Tosas Ros, a sports manager.[134]

Hingis speaks five languages: Swiss German, Standard German, Czech, English and French.[135]

On 20 July 2018, Hingis married former sports doctor Harald Leemann in Switzerland in a secret ceremony at the Grand Resort Bad Ragaz. Hingis and Leemann had been in a relationship for almost a year before they got married.[136]

On 30 September 2018 (her 38th birthday) Hingis announced, via social media, her first pregnancy.[137] She gave birth to a daughter, Lia, on 26 February 2019.[138][139]