Martina Hingis

Personal life

Hingis was born in Košice, Czechoslovakia (now in Slovakia) as Martina Hingisová, to Melanie Molitorová and Karol Hingis, both of whom were tennis players. Molitorová was a professional tennis player who was once ranked tenth among women in Czechoslovakia, and was determined to develop Hingis into a top player as early as pregnancy. Her father was ranked as high as 19th in the Czechoslovak tennis rankings. Martina Hingis spent her early childhood growing up in the town of Rožnov pod Radhoštěm (now in the Czech Republic). Hingis's parents divorced when she was six, and she and her mother defected from Czechoslovakia in 1987 and emigrated to Trübbach (Wartau) in Switzerland when she was seven. Her mother remarried to a Swiss man, Andreas Zogg, a computer technician. Hingis acquired Swiss citizenship through naturalization. Along with her native Czech and German, Hingis speaks English and French.

Hingis briefly dated Swedish tennis player Magnus Norman, from late May to mid October in 2000.

Hingis became engaged to Czech tennis player Radek Štěpánek in November 2006, but the couple broke off the engagement in August 2007. In December 2009, Hingis became engaged to then-38-year-old Andreas Bieri, a Swiss attorney she had been living with since the summer of 2009, but the couple broke off the engagement in April 2010.

On 10 December 2010, in Paris, Hingis married then-24-year-old Thibault Hutin, a French equestrian show jumper she had met at a competition in April of that year. On 8 July 2013, Hingis told the Swiss newspaper Schweizer Illustrierte the pair had been separated since the beginning of the year.

On 20 July 2018, Hingis married sports physician Harald Leemann in Switzerland in a secret ceremony at the Grand Resort Bad Ragaz. Hingis and Leemann had been in a relationship for almost a year before they got married. They were both 37. On 30 September 2018 (her 38th birthday) Hingis announced, via social media, her first pregnancy. She gave birth to a daughter, Lia, on 26 February 2019. The couple divorced in August 2022.

Tennis career

Hingis began playing tennis when she was two years old and entered her first tournament at age four. In 1993, 12-year-old Hingis became the youngest player to win a Grand Slam junior title: the girls' singles at the French Open. In 1994, she retained her French Open junior title, won the girls' singles title at Wimbledon, and reached the final of the US Open.

She made her WTA debut at the Zurich Open in October 1994, two weeks after turning 14, and ended 1994 ranked world No. 87.

Grand Slam success and period of dominance (1996–2000)

In 1996, Hingis became the youngest Grand Slam champion of all time, when she teamed with Helena Suková at Wimbledon to win the women's doubles title at age 15 years and 9 months. She also won her first professional singles title that year at Filderstadt, Germany. She reached the singles quarterfinals of the 1996 Australian Open and the singles semifinals of the 1996 US Open. Following her win at Filderstadt, Hingis defeated the reigning Australian Open champion and co-top ranked (with Steffi Graf) Monica Seles in the final in Oakland, but lost to Graf in the year-end WTA Tour Championships final in five sets.

In 1997, Hingis became the World No. 1 women's tennis player. She started the year by winning the warm-up tournament in Sydney. She then became the youngest Grand Slam singles winner in the 20th century by winning the Australian Open at age 16 years and 3 months (beating former champion Mary Pierce in the final). She also won the Australian Open women's doubles with Natasha Zvereva. In March, she became the youngest top ranked player in history. In July, she became the youngest singles champion at Wimbledon since Lottie Dod in 1887 by beating Jana Novotná in the final. She then defeated another up-and-coming player, Venus Williams, in the final of the US Open. The only Grand Slam singles title that Hingis failed to win in 1997 was the French Open, where she lost in the final to Iva Majoli.

In 1998, Hingis won all four of the Grand Slam women's doubles titles, only the fourth in women's tennis history to do so, (the Australian Open with Mirjana Lučić and the other three events with Novotná), and she became only the third woman to hold the No. 1 ranking in both singles and doubles simultaneously. She also retained her Australian Open singles title by beating Conchita Martínez in straight sets in the final. Hingis, however, lost in the final of the US Open to Lindsay Davenport. Davenport ended an 80-week stretch Hingis had enjoyed as the No. 1 singles player in October 1998, but Hingis finished the year by beating Davenport in the final of the WTA Tour Championships.

1999 saw Hingis win her third successive Australian Open singles crown as well as the doubles title (with Anna Kournikova). She had dropped her former doubles partner Jana Novotná.

She then reached the French Open final and was three points away from victory in the second set before losing to Steffi Graf about whom she had said before: "Steffi had some results in the past, but it's a faster, more athletic game now... She is old now. Her time has passed." She broke into tears after a game in which the crowd had booed her for using underhand serves and crossing the line in a discussion about an umpire decision. After a shock first-round, straight set, loss to Jelena Dokić at Wimbledon, Hingis bounced back to reach her third consecutive US Open final, where she lost to 17-year-old Serena Williams. Hingis won a total of seven singles titles that year and reclaimed the No. 1 singles ranking. She also reached the final of the WTA Tour Championships, where she lost to Lindsay Davenport.

Injuries and first retirement from tennis (2001–2003)

In 2001, Switzerland, with Hingis and Roger Federer on its team, won the Hopman Cup. Hingis didn't drop a set in any of her singles matches during the event, defeating Tamarine Tanasugarn, Nicole Pratt, Amanda Coetzer, and Monica Seles. In 2018, after his second Hopman Cup victory, Federer was quoted as saying: "I learned a lot from her, especially the two years I was here – once as a hitting partner and once as a partner with Martina. Definitely she helped me to become the player I am today."

Hingis reached her fifth consecutive Australian Open final in 2001, defeating both of the Williams sisters en route, before losing to Jennifer Capriati. She briefly ended her coaching relationship with her mother Melanie early in the year but had a change of heart two months later just before the French Open. 2001 was her least successful year in several seasons, with only three tournament victories in total. She lost her No. 1 ranking for the last time (to Jennifer Capriati) on 14 October 2001. In that same month, Hingis underwent surgery on her right ankle.

Coming back from injury, Hingis won the Australian Open doubles final at the start of 2002 (again teaming with Anna Kournikova) and reached a sixth straight Australian Open final in singles, again facing Capriati. Hingis led by a set and 4–0 and had four match points but lost in three sets. In May 2002, she needed another ankle ligament operation, this time on her left ankle. After that, she continued to struggle with injuries and was not able to recapture her best form. At the 2002 US Open, Hingis became the first woman to receive a wildcard and be seeded in a grand slam tournament (and as of the 2026 Wimbledon this has only occurred three times in the Open Era), though she would lose to Monica Seles in the fourth round in straight sets. Hingis would drop out of the top-10 in the WTA’s Rankings in October 2002.

In February 2003, at the age of 22, Hingis announced her retirement from tennis, due to her injuries and being in pain. "I want to play tennis only for fun and concentrate more on horse riding and finish my studies." In several interviews, she indicated that she wished to return to her home country and coach full-time.

During this segment of her tennis career (until what would become her first retirement), Hingis won a total of 40 singles titles and 36 doubles. She held the world No. 1 singles ranking for a total of 209 weeks (fifth most following Steffi Graf, Martina Navratilova, Chris Evert, and Serena Williams). In 2005, Tennis magazine put her in 22nd place in its list of 40 Greatest Players of the Tennis era.

Return to the game (2005–2007)

In February 2005, Hingis came out of retirement and made an unsuccessful return to competition. This took place at an event in Pattaya, Thailand, where she lost to Germany's Marlene Weingärtner in the first round. After the loss, she claimed that she had no further plans to continue further and make a full-fledged comeback.

Hingis, however, resurfaced in July, playing singles, doubles, and mixed doubles in World Team Tennis and notching up singles victories over two top 100 players and shutting out Martina Navratilova in singles on 7 July. With these promising results behind her, Hingis announced on 29 November her return to the next season's WTA Tour.

At the Australian Open, Hingis lost in the quarterfinals to second-seeded Kim Clijsters. However, Hingis won the mixed doubles title with Mahesh Bhupathi of India. This was her first career Grand Slam mixed doubles title and fifteenth overall (5 singles, 9 women's doubles, 1 mixed doubles).

The week after the Australian Open, Hingis defeated world No. 4, Maria Sharapova, in the semifinals of the Tier I Pan Pacific Open in Tokyo, before losing in the final to world No. 9, Elena Dementieva. Hingis competed in Dubai then, reaching the quarterfinals before falling to Sharapova. At the Tier I Pacific Life Open in Indian Wells, Hingis defeated world No. 4, Lindsay Davenport in the fourth round, before again losing to Sharapova in the semifinals.

At the Tier I Italian Open in Rome, Hingis posted her 500th career singles match victory in the quarterfinals, beating world No. 18 Flavia Pennetta, and subsequently won the tournament with wins over Venus Williams in the semifinals and Dinara Safina in the final. This was her 41st WTA Tour singles title and first in more than four years. Hingis then reached the quarterfinals of the French Open before losing to Kim Clijsters.

At Wimbledon, Hingis lost in the third round to Ai Sugiyama.

Hingis's return to the US Open was short lived, as she was upset in the second round by world No. 112, Virginie Razzano of France.

ITF suspension and second retirement (2007–2012)

In November 2007, Hingis called a press conference to announce that she was under investigation for testing positive for benzoylecgonine, a metabolite of cocaine, during a urine test taken by players at Wimbledon. Hingis's urine sample contained an estimated 42 nanograms per millilitre of benzoylecgonine. The International Tennis Federation's report on the matter states that "the very low estimated concentration of benzoylecgonine (42 ng/ml) was such that it would go unreported in many drug testing programmes such as that of the US military, which uses a screening threshold of 150 ng/ml." As the amount was so low, Hingis appealed, arguing the likely cause was contamination rather than intentional ingestion. In January 2008, the ITF's tribunal suspended Hingis from the sport for two years, effective from October 2007.

At the time of Hingis's suspension, the ITF required an automatic two-year suspension for any players who tested positive for banned substances, regardless of extenuating circumstances such as contamination or extremely low detection levels. The ITF subsequently altered the suspension rules as a result of the Hingis case, allowing for future flexibility in cases of unintentional or unexplained ingestion.

Having retired for the second time in 2007, Hingis played an exhibition match at the Liverpool International tournament on 13 June 2008. Although this event was a warm-up for Wimbledon, it was not part of the WTA Tour. In a rematch of their 1997 Wimbledon final, Hingis defeated Jana Novotná.

In 2009, Hingis took part in the British television dancing competition Strictly Come Dancing. She was the bookies' favourite for the competition, but went out in the first week after performing a waltz and a rumba.

At the start of 2010, Hingis defeated former world No. 1 Lindsay Davenport, and hinted at a possible return to tennis. In February, she announced having committed to a full season with the World TeamTennis tour in 2010. She had previously played for World TeamTennis in 2005 to assist her first comeback. Sparking thoughts that she was trying to come back to the WTA Tour, she committed to playing at the Nottingham Masters. On 5 May 2010, it was announced that Hingis would reunite with her doubles partner Anna Kournikova. Kournikova was participating in competitive tennis for the first time in seven years, in the Invitational Ladies Doubles event at Wimbledon. Hingis also confirmed that she would play at the Tradition-ICAP Liverpool International championship in June 2010, preceding Wimbledon, before playing in the Manchester Masters after Wimbledon. Liverpool like the Nottingham and Manchester Masters are organised by her management company Northern Vision. At the Nottingham Masters, Hingis faced Michaëlla Krajicek (twice), Olga Savchuk and Monika Wejnert. Hingis won just once in the event, against Wejnert. After the Nottingham event, Billie Jean King stated that she believed that Hingis might return to the WTA Tour on the doubles circuit, after competing in the WTT.

Second return and doubles success (2013–2017)

In April 2013, Hingis agreed to coach Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova; however, after a disagreement about how to prepare for tournaments they parted ways in June.

Hingis won the Ladies' Invitation Doubles for a third year in a row at Wimbledon, again with Davenport. They beat Jana Novotná and Barbara Schett in the final. Hingis was inducted into the International Tennis Hall of Fame in July 2013, and in the same month, announced that she was coming out of retirement to play a doubles tournament, with Daniela Hantuchová as her partner, in Carlsbad, California. She was accepted as a wildcard entry. She also played doubles in Toronto, Cincinnati, New Haven, and the US Open.

Hingis helped Sabine Lisicki during the Australian Open. She participated in Champions Tennis League India to boost tennis in the country.

Hingis returned to the WTA Tour at Indian Wells, partnering Lisicki in the doubles. They lost in the first round to three-time Grand Slam finalists Ashleigh Barty and Casey Dellacqua. At the Miami Open, Hingis and Lisicki reached the finals of the tournament and then defeated Makarova and Vesnina in straight sets, marking Hingis's first title since she won the Qatar Ladies Open in 2007 and her first Premier Mandatory doubles title since winning the 2001 title in Moscow. This was also her third win in Miami, having won her last title there in 1999.

Hingis reached the final at Eastbourne with Pennetta where they lost to Chan Hao-ching and Chan Yung-jan of Taiwan. At the Wimbledon Championships, she reached the quarterfinals with partner Bruno Soares in mixed doubles, where they lost to Daniel Nestor and Kristina Mladenovic in straight sets.

Entering as an unseeded team at the US Open, Hingis and Pennetta reached the final, without losing a set in any of their matches. In the final they lost to Makarova and Vesnina in three sets.

At the latter end of the season, Hingis and Flavia Pennetta won two titles. At the tournament in Wuhan, they beat Cara Black and Caroline Garcia to take the title; in Moscow they beat Caroline Garcia and Arantxa Parra Santonja.

Playing style

Hingis was an all-court player who possessed an intelligent, crafty game. Hingis compensated for her lack of power with superior movement, anticipation, finesse, point construction, shot selection, and knowledge of the geometry of the court. Hingis used a semi-western grip for her forehand, allowing her to create sharp angles and dictate play. Her two-handed backhand was her most effective groundstroke, and was used to redirect power down the line. She could also hit her backhand one-handed with slice, and would use this shot to break up the pace of rallies. Her serve was not particularly powerful, and she rarely served aces, but was reliable, and she was proficient at defending her serve. Although her serve had been recorded as high as 111 mph (179 km/h), her first serve was typically delivered at 95 mph (153 km/h), and her second serve speed averaged 79 mph (127 km/h). She was one of the most effective returners on the WTA tour, positioning herself on the baseline to return first serves, and her superior sense of anticipation allowed her to read serves effectively. Due to her doubles experience, Hingis was one of the most effective players at the net on the WTA tour, possessing an almost complete repertoire of shots at the net, and she would frequently choose to finish points off at the net.

Career statistics

Singles performance timeline

2If ITF Women's Circuit (hardcourt: 12–2; carpet: 6–1) and Fed Cup (10–0) participations are included, overall win–loss record: 548–133.

Doubles

By winning the 1998 US Open title, Hingis completed the doubles Career Grand Slam, becoming the 17th female player in history to achieve this, as well as the youngest. It also meant she completed the Calendar Year Grand Slam, becoming the fourth woman in history to achieve the feat in doubles.

Mixed doubles

By winning the 2016 French Open title, Hingis completed the mixed doubles Career Grand Slam. She became the 7th female player in history to achieve this.

Records

These records were attained in the Open Era of tennis.

By winning Wimbledon doubles title in 1996 with Helena Suková became youngest doubles winner at 15 years, 282 days and youngest ever Grand Slam winner.

By winning Australian singles title in 1997, became youngest winner there in tennis history at 16 years and 3 months.

By defeating Monica Seles 6–2, 6–1 in 1997 at Key Biscayne, ascended the no. 1 spot as the youngest ever in tennis history.

Became the youngest ever year-end No.1 in 1997 in tennis history.

By winning the US Open against Venus Williams in 1997, Hingis contended all Grand Slam tournament finals that year; second youngest winner in the US Open at 16 years, 11 months and 8 days.

Won the Australian and US Open in 1997 without losing a set.

In 1997, from Sydney to the final of Roland Garros had a 37-match winning streak, best from 1995 until present.

By winning the US Open doubles title in 1998 with Jana Novotná, completed a doubles Grand Slam, third player in the Open Era.

Held simultaneously the no. 1 position for singles and doubles in 1998.

Most successful player to play the Toray Pan-Pacific Tournament with 5 wins in 1997, 1999, 2000, 2002, 2007, and reached 8 finals in 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2006, 2007.

Compiled 103 top-10 wins (behind Serena Williams 164, Lindsay Davenport 129, and Venus Williams 127), 43 singles titles, 64 doubles titles, 7 mixed doubles titles, and 209 weeks at no.1 (5th behind Steffi Graf, Martina Navratilova, Chris Evert and Serena Williams).

Notable accolades

Except for the French Open, she won every major WTA Tour singles title at least once during her career (Grand Slam tournaments, WTA Tour Championships, and Tier I tournaments).

She is the only player to win all nine Tier I (former WTA 1000 Series) active tournaments between 1997–2000 in singles, a feat later dubbed as Career Golden Masters in ATP Tour. This career sweep is achieved across hard, clay and indoor courts in a four-year universal cycle and coined as Career Golden Premiers in WTA Tour.

Except for Berlin, she won every major WTA Tour doubles title at least once during her career (Grand Slam tournaments, WTA Tour Championships, and Tier I tournaments).

By reaching the 2016 French Open mixed doubles finals, Hingis joined an elite group of players who have reached the finals in all 4 Grand Slams across singles, doubles, and mixed doubles.

Awards

1992: Swiss Champion together with the tennisclub TC Schützenwiese (from Winterthur) in the Interclub-Championships.

1994: ITF Junior Girls Singles World Champion.

1995: WTA Newcomer of the Year.

1995: Named "Female Rookie of the Year" by Tennis magazine.

1996: WTA Most Improved Player of the Year.

1997: Associated Press Female Athlete of the Year.

1997: WTA Player of the Year.

1997: ITF World Champion – Women's singles.

1997: BBC Overseas Sports Personality of the Year.

1998: First female athlete to be on the cover of the American men's magazine GQ in June 1998.

1998: WTA Doubles Team of the Year (with Jana Novotná).

1999: WTA Doubles Team of the Year (with Anna Kournikova).

1999: ITF World Champion – Women's Singles.

1999: ITF World Champion – Women's doubles (with Anna Kournikova).

2000: ITF World Champion – Women's Singles.

2000: One of five female tennis players named to the 2000 Forbes magazine Power 100 in Fame and Fortune list at No. 51.

2000: WTA Diamond Aces Award.

Equipment endorsements

Hingis's current on-court apparel is manufactured by Tonic Lifestyle Apparel; having her own clothing line: Tonic by Martina Hingis. She is sponsored by Yonex for racquets and shoes.

In the 1990s, Hingis was sponsored by Sergio Tacchini. In 1998 she suffered a foot injury, and she withdrew from the Wimbledon doubles competition in 1999. She sued the company in 2001 for making allegedly defective shoes that injured her feet. Hingis and Tacchini settled in 2005 for an undisclosed amount of money. She was sponsored by Adidas from 1999 until 2008.