I’m writing this immediately after her loss to Radwanska, who I will affectionally label “Rad”, if only because it’s so long to write. And I’m feeling a mixture of emotions. I feel angry that she lost, even though I immediately recognize that’s irrational on my part- even Hingis can’t win every match. I feel annoyed, because in theory she should have beaten “Rad” easily and didn’t- today she didn’t because of factors no one really understands. And I feel nostalgic. Because, on a very purely selfish level, I want the ‘old’ Martina Hingis back.
There were reasons for her poor performance. She was visibly sick. She had played a singles and a doubles match the previous day. She was battling with the wind. The planets weren’t properly aliened. The reasons are numerous and they are valid. To hurl abuse at her for losing, whilst it is understandable, is also unreasonable. It’s too easy to forget Hingis isn’t the same player as before. She’s changed.
She’s changed, but she’s stayed the same as well. There are still flashes of brilliance and intuition, moments of flair which characterized her days as the “Swiss Miss” so well. Do you remember the days when the “Swiss Miss” would deliver drop shots for fun? Granted, in recent weeks those days have become somewhat more rare, but oh, when she does have those moments- it’s absolutely breath-taking. She shows tennis for what it should be. She comes up with that shot from that angle, and you can’t help but fall in love with her style. And when you think she can’t come up with something better she does. And you fall in love all over again.
But she’s changed. The “Swiss Miss” was brilliant, was extremely talented and more importantly, acutely aware of that. She was arrogant. She was cocky and she was arrogant, and I loved her for it. She wasn’t afraid of losing because she knew she’d win. And you can ponder the reasons for such confidence. She was above the rest. No one had her flair. Her mother was watching. Reasons, so many reasons. Then things started to change, power hitters started to dominate the tour, Hingis started suffered from injury, you all know how the tale ends: she retires. The one who once murmured “I am the savior of tennis” turned and walked away.
In a Freud sort of way, she needed those 3 years off the court. She needed to see what life was like away from tennis to know she couldn’t live without it. She needed to see the other players continue their careers for her to realize she still might have something to prove. And she needed to watch them win from the sidelines because it was from a distance she said to herself “I beat those players”.
And one day she announced she was coming back. The savior of tennis was coming back from the cold. I will be the first to admit I had my doubts. She had lost so much confidence in the months preceding her retirement, were we really supposed to believe she had gotten in back during those 3 years? A comeback was impossible. She couldn’t do it. It wouldn’t last. She was doing because she was bored. She was doing it for the publicity.
Then came the Gold Coast. 2-0 down in the first set. And all the doubts and insecurities she had came roaring back, and she started questioning herself. But whatever questions she was asking herself were the right ones, because she found the answers she so desperately needed and in that moment she became the “Swiss Miss” again. The player who once seemingly won tournaments for fun. And I loved her for that. I loved how she defied expectations, I love how she later made it to the ¼ Final in the AO only to be beaten in 3 sets by Clijsters.
It wasn’t supposed to be like that. A player who has been away for 3 years doesn’t suddenly come back to the ¼ of a Grand Slam. It just doesn’t happen. But she isn’t just any other player; she’s “the Swiss Miss”. And if anyone can pull a comeback like that, it’s her.
But it’s easy to forget that Hingis is still doing her comeback. She did so well in her comeback year that it’s tempting to overlook the 3 years she spent off the court. And when she loses, people question her, doubt her.
Surely, surely, we have no right to say “enough is enough”. To question her commitment, to ponder her motivation. She lost. As a fan, I’m annoyed. I have certain expectations towards her. Expectations which ultimately do involve her getting past the 3rd round. That being said, I have another expectation beyond that of winning. I expect her to give it her best. And she can’t do that when she’s as sick as she was against “Rad”. No one, absolutely no one, can deny that she was missing shots she would normally make with her eyes closed. No one can deny that she was under-performing.
No one can deny she was definitely sick. Surely you cannot blame her, attack her in any sense of the term, when she’s so sick that she’s “going to throw up”? Surely…
Yet sickness aside, there are other aspects I noticed when she was playing. Her somewhat reluctance to end the game. The “Swiss Miss” was positively ruthless in the sense she toyed with her opponent just enough to give them hope; half a breath later the ball was out of their reach and she was standing there with her trademark arrogant smirk (how I’ve come to miss it…). Things have changed, with Hingis. It’s almost like she lost confidence, but to a degree which remains unknown. Could it really be that a player as talented, as experienced, as Martina is more afraid of winning than she is of actually losing? Is that why she can’t win?
You can debate the reasons why. She’s made her point: power hitters may still be her resident “bête noir”, but it’s not a coincidence that she defied all expectations and ended the year #7. She doesn’t have anything left to prove. And is she right? She has made her point. No one is ever going to look at her in the eye and tell her “You don’t deserve it”. She did, she rebuilt her career, she started from scratch. And look at her now. Breathing down the necks of the top 5. Eyeing that top 3 spot.
I’m going to go out on a limb here. Most will disagree with me here. But bring back her mother. I say this for two reasons. First of all, as a competitor, you naturally up your game when there’s someone you care about watching you. You want to show off, you want to make them proud, you want to show them what you’ve become. And two, because she expected Martina to win. And so Martina did. Out of obligation, you can argue, but she did.
But that’s the problem- she did it out of obligation. Now she’s finally playing tennis for fun. Yeah, ok. She’s been below par. She’s had controversial losses. She seems so afraid of letting people down that she almost has a mental block to winning. So, yeah. “Rad” won, fair game to her.
But I’ll take the “Swiss Miss” any day. If she wins or loses, she still manages to do that shot, from that angle. Partly out of loyalty. And partly because a long time ago a cocky young teenager strutted onto center court at Wimbledon and won the final. And said, “I will change tennis.”
She did.
