04/25/24
November 30, 2005
Martina Hingis planning a comeback:: After three years away from the game because of nagging ankle injuries, the youngest world #1 ever feels she still has some game left, and is considering a Capriati-like comeback at 25, possibly in time for the Australian Open.
In a related story, the newly-Australianized Jelena Dokic may return from her extended hiatus for the same tournament.
posted by chicobangs to tennis at 12:00 PM - 31 comments
Thinking about Martina in that tennis skirt.....Now I can't get up from my desk for a little while. Thanks.
posted by HATER 187 at 12:32 PM on November 30, 2005
SpoFi's version of gravity: a guy commenting on a player's appearance -- and saying nothing else whatsoever -- in a women's tennis thread. Thank you, guys, we know that things fall towards the planet's surface when you let 'em go. Thanks for letting us know how you feel about it; we were in danger of forgetting. Sure, Hingis could make a considerable comeback -- hell, so did Capriati -- but she's gonna have a tough time cracking the top levels, regardless of possible fades and departures. Clijsters isn't edging, she's trotting, and I think Dementieva's done all that she's gonna do -- she's got some spoiler potential but not much more -- but I would not count on the Williamses to go away, and I think Sharapova is gonna come back in a formidable way. All of the "wow she's tall and blonde and *drool*grunt*" attention does not seem to have fazed her; she'll grow into it. Pierce is not done, Davenport is not done, and Mauresmo looked fantastic at the WTA. I don't think Hingis will shake things up significantly without a year or more of dues-paying at the least, particularly not with a bum ankle.
posted by lil_brown_bat at 12:46 PM on November 30, 2005
I wonder what she has done about the ankle. Did she have surgery? Other than her stupid comments about Mauresmo, I liked Hingis. The more strong rackets on the court the better the matches. And what lbb said. HATER, if you can't resist making comments about a players appearance, at least preface it with some sort of thread-related comment, please.
posted by scully at 01:00 PM on November 30, 2005
Yeah, Hater. A sports blog is no place for guys to voice their admiration of the appearance of female athletes. We don't need to hear about women in short little tennis skirts or lesbian professional football cheerleaders or the like. Obviously the comment police are patrolling today. Imagine, sexist comments on a sports blog. Deplorable!
posted by willthrill72 at 01:06 PM on November 30, 2005
I couldn't resist. I had a huge crush on Martina from when I was in high school (we're the same age) and was genuinely excited (minds out of the gutters people) to hear she was coming back. She was the dominant player for a good 3 years and hopefully can return to that status. Womens tennis has been genrally more exciting than Roddick-Fedderererer and Martina will only fuel the high level of competiton that is so prevalent on the ladies tour. No offense meant by my erection joke.
posted by HATER 187 at 01:17 PM on November 30, 2005
Okay, back on topic! Hingis is no dummy. If she didn't see a bit of a vacuum at the top of the sport, she might have stayed retired. As it is, there's a window there for her to maybe sneak in a few more majors before the next truly dominant player steps forward. If she's going to be at or near the top of her game, who's going to be her main competition in two years? Everyone currently at the top (esopecially those for whom Russian isn't their first language) is going to be faded or out of the sport entirely, and there seems to be a dearth of blue-chip teens on their way up, unless I'm missing something. am I?
posted by chicobangs at 01:49 PM on November 30, 2005
maybe just one super gutsy champ
posted by garfield at 02:12 PM on November 30, 2005
If she comes back and plays like when she went out Maria is her only competition.
posted by HATER 187 at 03:57 PM on November 30, 2005
In other news, and while we're at it: Paradorn Srichaphan leaves tennis to become a monk.
posted by chicobangs at 04:00 PM on November 30, 2005
http://www.strangesports.com/images/content/11368.jpg Great testimonial to Martina Hingis. sorry lbb. She is a good tennis player.
posted by dyams at 04:00 PM on November 30, 2005
I couldn't get my above link to come up. If you type it in, you'll get there, though. (sorry).
posted by dyams at 04:02 PM on November 30, 2005
Things I've heard/seen about Hingis:
- She sued her shoe sponsor because they made a crappy shoe that lead to her foot injuries.
- She is currently playing in the Team Tennis tour, of which I catch a few snippets when TSN has nothing else to show.
- She used to date Sergio Garcia, and supposedly "provided comfort" for him during a rain delay at a tournament years ago.
- She's got an amazing body, but her face looks like it got hit with an iron frying pan.
- She would be a welcome (re-)addition to the WTA.
posted by grum@work at 04:19 PM on November 30, 2005
Pierce is not done lbb, can you clarify what you mean by this? I've always a Mary Pierce fan, but I also feel like she's never delivered on her promise. Does "not done" = winning tournaments or more mediocrity?
posted by yerfatma at 04:28 PM on November 30, 2005
I liked Srichaphan's game. He never won that big Slam round though.
posted by garfield at 04:40 PM on November 30, 2005
I was shocked when Hingis 'retired' at such a young age. There is indeed a vaccuum here that she quite conceivably could take advantage of. I would be a little concerned about her power game though. In three years a lot of these women are hitting the ball a lot harder, it seems.
posted by WeedyMcSmokey at 04:49 PM on November 30, 2005
lbb, can you clarify what you mean by this? I've always a Mary Pierce fan, but I also feel like she's never delivered on her promise. Does "not done" = winning tournaments or more mediocrity? I really don't think she's been mediocre lately. The WTA final was a good example. Pierce played very, very well, and only lost because Mauresmo was totally on. She hasn't been winning tournaments, but she's been losing with some very good tennis. Will she win any tournaments? That depends on the competition. My thought that Mary Pierce at her theoretical best (from this point forward) would be beat by several other top women at their theoretical best, but in real life it rarely (if ever) works out that way. Tennis, like any other sport, is in part a game of "my injuries vs. your injuries, my rehab vs. your rehab, my head cold vs. your stomach flu". I don't see her as a likely winner, no...but she competed with such tenacity this year, and I think she's smarter than a lot of players in how she manages some of the off-court aspects, that I think it certainly could come together in a major tournament win. Re: Hingis: she has history with both ankles, at least one of which seemed to be a case of "too much, too fast", prompting the retirement. Apparently it was her experience playing team tennis this year that made her decide to come back. We shall see -- facing off against the Boston Lobsters is a very different matter than facing any of Davenport/Williams (pick one)/Clijsters/Mauresmo/Sharapova/etc.
posted by lil_brown_bat at 05:22 PM on November 30, 2005
I should point out my tennis knowledge has an expiration date of 1989, when I was a ballboy in Newport for a summer. I do love Mary Pierce, but mainly for the daddy back-story.
posted by yerfatma at 06:18 PM on November 30, 2005
newly-Australianized That would be newly re-Australianised. With an 's'. Thanks.
posted by owlhouse at 07:21 PM on November 30, 2005
owlhouse, I stand corrected.
posted by chicobangs at 02:15 AM on December 01, 2005
Wait - we're correcting regional spelling in made up words now? In other tennis news, Tim Henman quits tennis to become Archbishop of Canterbury. She sued her shoe sponsor because they made a crappy shoe that lead to her foot injuries. She used to date Sergio Garcia, and supposedly "provided comfort" for him during a rain delay at a tournament years ago. She should have sued her shoe company for introducing her to Sergio. Is she still going out with living proof that we are descended from apes?
posted by JJ at 09:38 AM on December 01, 2005
She's got an amazing body, but her face looks like it got hit with an iron frying pan. You are soooooooooo on the list for that one. She went through an awkward phase early on in her career but has totally grew into her looks...oh and uh her power game may take a while to come back but her natural athleticism and great speed allows her make hard to reach shots almost effortlessly, which to me was always her strongest attribute.
posted by HATER 187 at 12:00 PM on December 01, 2005
She's got an amazing body, but her face looks like it got hit with an iron frying pan. You are soooooooooo on the list for that one. I'm on so many lists, you'd need another list to keep track of it. I didn't want to imply that she was ugly, just that he face seems to have...flat features. Small nose, big forehead (fivehead?), big cheeks...it just looked like someone took a normal face and squished it a bit.
posted by grum@work at 12:17 PM on December 01, 2005
We call that "chasing parked cars" where I come from.
posted by yerfatma at 12:37 PM on December 01, 2005
We call that "chasing parked cars" where I come from. Now, now. I'm sure she's much too intelligent for that.
posted by lil_brown_bat at 01:14 PM on December 01, 2005
*sigh.*
posted by chicobangs at 01:16 PM on December 01, 2005
Sorry chico, at least I talked a little about her tennis ability in my post.
posted by HATER 187 at 01:36 PM on December 01, 2005
She's got a face like a bulldog licking piss off a nettle. What? Just cos I said what everyone (except the 187) was thinking. [tennis related comment] She's got lovely balls though. [/tennis related comment]
posted by JJ at 04:43 PM on December 01, 2005
Wait - we're correcting regional spelling in made up words now Only when I have time off from proof reading Lynne Truss' new book. I have spotted a small but significant error....
posted by owlhouse at 09:32 PM on December 01, 2005
I think you'll find Strunk would suggest "Truss's" rather than "Truss'", and "..." not "...." Move over, kettle, pot coming through. Sorry, owlhouse, I couldn't resist.
posted by JJ at 05:16 AM on December 02, 2005
The apostrophe is optional, I think, despite your reference. The fourth dot in the ellipsis is the sentence full stop. Well, that's my excuse.
posted by owlhouse at 08:46 PM on December 02, 2005
This would sure thicken the plot at the top of the women's game, which is in kind of an in-between time right now, with the Williamses fading, Davenport, Pierce and Clijsters edging toward retirement, and Mauresmo and the Russian Army all not quite stepping up. If Hingis (or Dokic) is going to be able to play even mostly as good as they did before, then the top five could look rather different this time next year.