Wednesday, January 18, 2006
Martina Hingis made a dramatic comeback in style [on the Rod Laver arena, no less] with an emphatic win in the first round of the Australian Open. Displaying the poise and precision that took her to the top of the game years ago, she also showed off some powerful groundstrokes. At the age of 25, no longer is she the impatient and petulant teenager [remember the French Open final against Steffi Graf?]. I think that now, with her maturity, comes a deeper appreciation of the game. It'd be great to see her go far, but that's a long shot given her lack of match experience. I don't think she'll flop miserably in her comeback - I think she'll perform respectably and hold her own against higher-ranked players.Hingis retired during the era of the power hitters. That was just boring to watch. Then came the Belgians, and I started watching again, then came the Russians, nah, then there was Sharapova. I'd love to see them both play. Around the age of 11 onwards I started being serious about tennis and Martina was just amazing to watch on the court. While she may appear to have a lack of power, she makes up for it with her mind. It's the way she strategizes and then executes that puts her a level above others. Right now, another player who's like that and whom I admire too would be Justine Henin-Hardenne.
If I'd it my way I'd be skipping classes to stay at home and watch the Aussie Open. hehe. The only drawback to this year's Open is that so many players are not 100% fit - they're ailing some way or the other, and the field has been depleted by withdrawls of top names like Nadal. :/
rachel at 9:57 PM