Losing her way. Will she lose her will too?
One thing that Hingis has a lot of is pride. Being pushed out of the top spot hurt but it was justifiable to her considering she had not won a single Grand Slam title since 1999. Being pushed out of the Top 10, however, must dent her pride. While one must take into consideration that Hingis was absent from the circuit between May and August, missing Roland Garros and Wimbledon as a result, the fact that she is no longer considered an elite player nor a contender must still hurt someone who has built her career on pride and confidence.
Undoubtedly, Martina returned to the tour too early after the ankle surgery which forced her off the tour this year. Her return was welcome by fans, sponsors and tennis aficionados who have warmed to her subtle, technical game, but produced mediocre results at best. Following two fairly decent quarter final showings in Montreal and New Haven, Hingis struggled throughout the US Open to lose in the fourth round to Monica Seles. More recently however, Martina was routed 6-2 6-2 in the first round of Moscow by Nadia Petrova and 6-3 6-1 in the second round of Filderstadt by Elena Dementieva. What was going wrong?
The two main elements of Martina’s game that she has continually been called on to improve are her serve – particularly the weak second delivery – and the power on her groundstrokes. Those elements were, and are, seen to be vital in order for her to maintain any sort of equality on-court with the big hitters such as the Williams sisters, Capriati and Davenport. While those elements are still lacking, Martina’s strengths in her speed, consistency and feel have also failed to surface on her return to the tour. Add also to all those elements the lack of match play and the lack of fitness and stamina and you don’t have to wonder why Martina’s results have been the way they have been and why her confidence has been shaken to the ground.
There is no doubt that someone that talented will not be able to bring her skills back to the table. Her speed will return once her ankle is stronger. Her fitness will return with a little bit of work. Her consistency and feel for the ball will return with on-court practice. But what could hold her back from reaching the top echelons where she should
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