WASHINGTON 鈥� In 1997, Martina Hingis dominated the women鈥檚 professional tennis tour, winning 12 titles, including three of the four grand slams, only missing a clean sweep by falling in the finals of the French Open. Just 16 years-old when the year began, Hingis has seen her contemporaries 鈥� from Lindsay Davenport and Monica Seles on the women鈥檚 side to Pete Sampras and Boris Becker on the men鈥檚 side 鈥� long since retired.
Hingis retired too. But her comeback in 2006, while successful, only took her to number six in the world in singles. In 2013, she was elected to the International Tennis Hall of Fame. But she continued to play 鈥� and win 鈥� with the Washington Kastles, especially with mixed doubles partner Leander Paes.
Finally, this season, Paes talked Hingis into taking their partnership beyond World Team Tennis and back to the sport鈥檚 biggest stages.
鈥淲e were pretty much unbeaten throughout the two (Kastles) seasons,鈥� explained Hingis during an interview with 草莓传媒 last month. 鈥淎nd he kept asking me, 鈥楥ome on, let鈥檚 play mixed doubles on the tour, in the grand slams.鈥欌��
Hingis demurred, unsure that their success in the Washington summers would translate to major championship competition. But Paes persisted.
鈥淗e had a great partner, winning grand slams in the past,鈥� said Hingis of Paes, who has become one of the great doubles players of all time with eight grand slam titles in both men鈥檚 and mixed doubles. 鈥淚 just felt like I wasn鈥檛 going to be a great partner, or like, good enough to hold my own at that time. But after, like, a year passed, and playing (in Washington), and feeling really comfortable with Leander and the way we played, I鈥檓 like, 鈥極K, let鈥檚 give it a go.鈥欌��
So they partnered up for the Australian Open. And they won five consecutive matches, all in straight sets, to take home the title.
They earned a first-round bye at Wimbledon, only to turn in a repeat performance, winning all four of their matches in straight sets. Along the way, they took down the top-ranked pair in the world, Mike Bryan and Bethanie Mattek-Sands, then blasted their way to a 6-1 6-1 victory in the final.
鈥淵ou get into this comfort zone, because the execution he has is just amazing,鈥� Hingis said of her partner. 鈥淚 mean, everyone, he just freaks people out when he鈥檚 at the net. No one can get through him.鈥�
The duo鈥檚 success is especially impressive given the sport鈥檚 obsession with youth. Hingis herself broke onto the scene as a 15-year-old. But now, a month shy of her 35th birthday, she and her 42-year-old partner have taken the sport by storm. She couldn鈥檛 have imagined this renaissance for herself during her last comeback.
鈥淭en years ago? Probably not,鈥� she said. 鈥淚 mean, I was still playing singles at that time, so that was a different situation. But I was always hoping to, I always had it in the back of my head that I might come back and play some doubles.鈥�
She鈥檚 done more than simply play, also winning her tenth women鈥檚 doubles title at Wimbledon this year, her first grand slam in that event since 2002. Now, she and Paes await their draw for the final grand slam of the year, the U.S. Open, beginning in Queens, New York this week.
鈥淚f you keep winning, then that鈥檚 the easiest part, to keep going,鈥� she said. 鈥淚 came back from Wimbledon and I was like, 鈥榊ou know, I just want to go hit some balls.鈥� You don鈥檛 want to take a vacation, because I don鈥檛 want to lose it.鈥�
The duo stayed sharp over the summer by helping the Kastles to their fifth consecutive WTT title. Now they鈥檒l try to match Serena Williams and win their third grand slam聽this year.
