Martina Hingis has partnered with Daniela Hantuchová to win 6-1, 6-1 at the Southern Californian open in her first match of her second comeback tour. The 32-year-old Swiss player with her Czech partner defeated German Julia Goerges and Croatian Darija Jurak on Wednesday night.
Hingis had been out of the game for six years and had previously announced that she was retired for good after multiple injury issues and a failed drug test.
In a statement to the WTA, Martina Hingis praised her partner for helping her overcome any butterflies in the strong victory:
“It took Daniela a lot of courage and inspiration to kind of dig me out of the grave, but I’m really happy to have a partner like her, it makes it so much easier. I was nervous going into the match.”
Hantuchová responded by pointing out that Hingis was the inspiration for her own career in tennis. Their next match takes place on Friday against number three seeds Raquel Kops-Jones and Abigail Spears.
Martina Hingis was inducted into the International Tennis Hall of Fame in Rhode Island in July.
At that time, multiple media sources saluted her impressive early career. Hingis won her first major title for Wimbledon doubles in 1996 at the age of 15, making her the youngest player ever to win a Grand Slam event.
She went on to become the world’s number one tennis player at age 16. She spent 209 weeks at the top, including five Grand Slam singles titles win and 10 major doubles titles.
She retired at age 22 because of injuries but couldn’t stay away. Her first comeback tour was derailed because of a failed drug test.
. @MHingis & @DHantuchova in post-match press. Wonder what they are saying? #WTA #tennis pic.twitter.com/amD2E1CbFg
— WTA (@WTA) August 1, 2013
Lovely hug between @mhingis & @dhantuchova after their doubles win @SoCalOpen13 , 1st match together since 2007! #WTA pic.twitter.com/WZ3g2QXCG7
— The Slice (@TheSliceTweets) August 1, 2013
In her 1st match out of retirement @MHingis partners w/ @DHantuchova to beat Goerges/Jurak 61 61 at @SoCalOpen13 #WTA pic.twitter.com/QKHPMb0vHb
— WTA (@WTA) August 1, 2013
But she’s older and more mature now. If she can put her injuries behind her, the second comeback tour may be a winner for Martina Hingis.
[Martina Hingis photo by Robyn Wilson / Shutterstock.com ]
