el_mago
Semi-Pro
Source=www.gotennis.com
Some of you may have seen this article already. Predicting that Hingis decides to comeback, I think if Hingis can get back into her form and if she gain that mental toughness that I think hindered her, she will become a top ten fixture. What do you think?
Hungry Promoters await Hingis return
By Ossian Shine
LONDON, Jan 11 (Reuters) - Sports promoters and tournament organisers are licking their lips in anticipation at the prospect of a return by Martina Hingis to women's tennis.
Hingis, a world number one at the age of 16 but forced into retirement at 22 because of persistent foot problems, has said she may be tempted to return to the sport if she comes through a comeback tournament in Thailand unscathed this month.
The mere glimmer of hope has set promoters salivating.
Australian Open chief Paul McNamee was the first to smile broadly as he spoke of luring Hingis to the season-opening Hopman Cup, an event he also runs.
"Wouldn't it be amazing if she does come back into the competitive side of the sport," he grinned.
"We hear the Pattaya tournament is not a comeback but... you know, she is back playing a tournament, so who knows?"
"Martina could come back into the mix, you never know." A five-times grand slam singles champion and winner of 76 WTA Tour titles, Hingis would be a welcome addition to a sport dominated last year by talented but little-known Russians.
Maria Sharapova aside, the hordes of hard-hitting Russians have failed to grip a tennis-watching public weaned on U.S. and western European personalities.
Hingis, by contrast, hogged headlines for her on-court heroics, off-court candour and love of the high life.
She has been sorely missed by a sport increasingly starved of glamour.
The master tactician will use the Volvo Women's Open in Pattaya, starting January 31, as a test of her fitness.
"The tournament is a test. I don't know how my body will react," she told Switzerland's Le Matin newspaper last week.
"I was a bit rusty, in the beginning, with some small pains in my calf at times. But that is part of the game.
"The state of my preparation is a question of mental preparation above all."
Some of you may have seen this article already. Predicting that Hingis decides to comeback, I think if Hingis can get back into her form and if she gain that mental toughness that I think hindered her, she will become a top ten fixture. What do you think?
Hungry Promoters await Hingis return
By Ossian Shine
LONDON, Jan 11 (Reuters) - Sports promoters and tournament organisers are licking their lips in anticipation at the prospect of a return by Martina Hingis to women's tennis.
Hingis, a world number one at the age of 16 but forced into retirement at 22 because of persistent foot problems, has said she may be tempted to return to the sport if she comes through a comeback tournament in Thailand unscathed this month.
The mere glimmer of hope has set promoters salivating.
Australian Open chief Paul McNamee was the first to smile broadly as he spoke of luring Hingis to the season-opening Hopman Cup, an event he also runs.
"Wouldn't it be amazing if she does come back into the competitive side of the sport," he grinned.
"We hear the Pattaya tournament is not a comeback but... you know, she is back playing a tournament, so who knows?"
"Martina could come back into the mix, you never know." A five-times grand slam singles champion and winner of 76 WTA Tour titles, Hingis would be a welcome addition to a sport dominated last year by talented but little-known Russians.
Maria Sharapova aside, the hordes of hard-hitting Russians have failed to grip a tennis-watching public weaned on U.S. and western European personalities.
Hingis, by contrast, hogged headlines for her on-court heroics, off-court candour and love of the high life.
She has been sorely missed by a sport increasingly starved of glamour.
The master tactician will use the Volvo Women's Open in Pattaya, starting January 31, as a test of her fitness.
"The tournament is a test. I don't know how my body will react," she told Switzerland's Le Matin newspaper last week.
"I was a bit rusty, in the beginning, with some small pains in my calf at times. But that is part of the game.
"The state of my preparation is a question of mental preparation above all."
