04/18/24
February 07, 2003
Martina Hingis retires at 22?: "At the moment my priority in life is no longer tennis but studying," Hingis says. "I want to get my English to such a high standard that I can get a job in, perhaps, marketing."
posted by worldcup2002 to tennis at 09:38 AM - 16 comments
She's won over $18 Million in prize money alone, she has probably been eating, sleeping, and breathing tennis for 15, 16 years, and she would have to improve her game dramatically to compete with either of the William's sisters. I think Serena's sheer unmitigated dominance will cause more than one financially set player to retire.
posted by vito90 at 09:43 AM on February 07, 2003
Who cares...the question is, is Jelena Dokic still playing?! I need to see more footage of her jumping...
posted by StarFucker at 09:53 AM on February 07, 2003
I think vito nailed it. She can't hang with the Williamses and isn't ready to train for another 3 years to try and catch up. If I could've retired at 22 (that was only last year) I'd've been all over it. I wouldn't go into marketing....but I'd sure as hell not do what I'm doing now. Hingis probably lost a lot of her childhood to playing tennis and training. I think it's cool that she just wants to live.
posted by Ufez Jones at 12:37 PM on February 07, 2003
That's "cool" with six or seven O's. Now, that's cool. Damn.
posted by worldcup2002 at 12:54 PM on February 07, 2003
yeah, tennis players and gymnasts and the like really lose a lot of their childhood, much moreso than players in the other major sports (which is odd, now that I bring it up)... a lot of them are shipped off to academies very early on to train exclusively. But in many cases pro hockey players only go for a few years to juniors or prep school (my NHL friend spent sr year of high school in the USHL in Iowa, then went to college, his life, friends and surroundings-wise, was never severely altered aside from that), and I don't really know that relocating and 100% immersion is common at all in baseball, football, or basketball. Figure skaters. Oh yeah, we had one near olympic level skater leave town to train in colorado at age 10. She never got anywhere, which makes it really a waste of a childhood. But yeah, I can see where she's coming from. And if she can afford it, good for her. And yeah, I'm with starfucker... let's get that jumping footage.
posted by Bernreuther at 02:18 PM on February 07, 2003
OY! 
posted by StarFucker at 03:00 PM on February 07, 2003
Wow. Is she old enough so that I don't have to feel like a total perv?
posted by Samsonov14 at 03:18 PM on February 07, 2003
apparently it's impossible to have one conversation about women's tennis without objectifying the players, eh?
posted by Ufez Jones at 03:32 PM on February 07, 2003
Apparently not. The WTA knows it, the sponsors know it, the players know it. How many Martina ads/sponsorships vs say Graf or Hingis or ... gasp ... Kournikova? (I know, different times, inflation, groundbreakers, blah blah, but you get my point.) Nice link-hunting, Ufez.
posted by worldcup2002 at 03:47 PM on February 07, 2003
Please. If it weren't for the objectification of women's tennis players, Anna Kournikova would be making less than I do.
posted by Samsonov14 at 03:55 PM on February 07, 2003
SF: Nice Dokic pic. But it would be nice to see more of her ... face. And jumping. btw, why the hell do they make the women wear skirts when they play? When they're wearing shorts (albeit really short shorts) underneath anyway? What is up with that!
posted by worldcup2002 at 03:58 PM on February 07, 2003
Not exactly jumping but...its a nice pic. She is a cutie! 
posted by StarFucker at 04:12 PM on February 07, 2003
I agree, we need to objectify women more...
posted by StarFucker at 04:22 PM on February 07, 2003
All Jelena. There are a couple photos of her face, some of her jumping and plenty, plenty more. And Samsonov she was born in '83. Perv away.
posted by 86 at 04:49 PM on February 07, 2003
Hahahahahaha. You guys kill me.
posted by worldcup2002 at 05:21 PM on February 07, 2003
Marketing. As in spokesmodeling?