Henin Returns, Hingis Won’t
Martina Hingis, 29 years old, is not coming back to tennis.
When Kim Clijsters won the U.S. Open last month, the state of the WTA tour was dragged into even more scrutiny. Then no. 1 player, Dinara Safina, hasn’t won any Grand Slam title; Serena Williams, now back at no. 1, is facing a possible suspension because of her cussing brouhaha; former no. 1s Maria Sharapova and Ana Ivanovic can’t go deep in any tournament (until Maria won Tokyo a few weeks later); and Venus Williams doesn’t look like she wants to win unless its Wimbledon. Then, all of a sudden, fresh-from-retirement, new mom Clijsters stole the limelight from them all.
Which then brings to us to Justine Henin, the only tennis player ever to retire while ranked as world no. 1. Henin announced her return to tennis shortly after the U.S. Open, and this is a news that was welcomed by the tennis community with much enthusiasm. This is one player who is poised to be threat to everyone, again.
So when Martina Hingis’ two-year suspension from the sport (due to a cocaine-positive test, which she is still vehemently denying) reaching its end, everyone wants to know if she’s giving tennis another try (she first retired in 2001 due to injury and made a comeback in 2006). Well, she isn’t. Reportedly, she feels that her career is on a downward spiral anyway. She prefers her new life now, donning equestrian apparel and riding her four horses. She (reportedly) recently starred in Britain’s version of Dancing with the Stars.