Hingis returns to resume rivalry with Sisters of No Mercy

Former world No I begins comeback from career-threatening injury with aim of breaking up Williams' domination

Not long before Martina Hingis's left ankle gave way, creating speculation about her future in tennis, she was overpowered by Serena Williams, 6-4, 6-0, in the quarter-finals of the Nasdaq Open in Florida. It was the first time either of the Williams sisters, Serena and Venus, had finished off Hingis to love.

Hingis's post-match interrogation was as penetrating as Serena's service returns. The 21-year-old former world No 1 from Switzerland was hit by a triple-whammy: Was it impossible, one reporter wanted to know, for her to reach No 1 again? Or to win another Grand Slam title? And were her chief rivals now playing in a different league?

Eyes widening, Hingis responded with shocked amusement. "I don't think so," she spluttered. "How can you say that? Come on! I mean, it's like, 'Hello!' It's not that I played that bad."

The questions remain in the air today as Hingis prepares to take the first steps of her comeback at the Rogers AT&T Canada Cup in Montreal, three months after ankle surgery to repair one torn ligament and three loose ligaments. Provided there are no further mishaps, Hingis will play a second warm-up tournament in New Haven, Connecticut, next week, and then take a wild card for the United States Open in New York, starting on 26 August.

Serena Williams, meanwhile, has defeated Venus in both the French Open and Wimbledon singles finals and has supplanted her older sibling as the top player in the Williams household and the rest of the world.

Another change seems to have taken place, one that may come as a pleasant surprise to Hingis. Accustomed as she is to praise and admiration for her cerebral style of play, Hingis probably sensed that some compliments were laced with resentment or jealousy or an underlying perception of her as an arrogant little prodigy with a beautiful game. In adversity, she is likely to find that more people are kindly disposed towards her.

One reason for the groundswell of goodwill is that Hingis, once the player to beat, now has the vulnerablility, if not the humility, to qualify as a sentimental favourite. Currently ranked No 8, she has not won a Grand Slam singles title since defeating Amelie Mauresmo in Melbourne in 1999 for a third consecutive Australian championship to add to her 1997 triumphs at Wimbledon and the United States Open.

A broader reason for rejoicing over Hingis's return to the courts is that sport thrives on rivalries, and at the moment the biggest rivals in women's tennis are both named Williams and live under the same roof.

The astonishing Williamses, aka "Sisters Sledgehammer" and "Sisters of No Mercy", may continue to dominate as an interchangeable young one-two, but at least a renewed challenge is in the offing.

Lindsay Davenport, who missed three of the four Grand Slam tournaments after an operation to her right knee in January, has already displayed encouraging signs of a return to form. The tall, powerful former Wimbledon, US Open and Australian Open champion from California, who ended last season as the world No 1, was due to contest her first final of the year at the Los Angeles Open last night. Davenport, 26, the defending champion, advanced to meet her compatriot Chanda Rubin, who eliminated Serena Williams in the quarter-finals.

The optimistic news from the recovery suite may also cheer up Jennifer Capriati, who, in the absence of Hingis and Davenport, has tried hard but unsuccessfully to prevent the Williams sisters from gaining a stranglehold on the sport. "Maybe I was carrying the load on my back of being the only one who has a chance to beat the Williamses," Capriati told Matt Cronin, of tennisreporters.net. "But now I've put all that aside and I'm doing my thing and enjoying it again. Not that I stopped enjoying it for that time, but I was getting a little frustrated and agitated in trying to be so perfect out there all the time."

Capriati, 26, won the first Grand Slam singles titles of her career last year, at the Australian Open and the French Open, and reigned as the world No 1 for 18 weeks. She has not won a title this year since successfully defending the Australian Open championship in January, saving four match points before defeating Hingis in the final.

Heat exhaustion may have contributed to Hingis's defeat, and it ought to be remembered that she was barely back on her feet as a serious challenger after undergoing surgery last October to repair three torn ligaments in her right ankle.

Hingis's ankles have attracted more attention than those of a Victorian debutante. In June last year she filed an ongoing $40m (£25m) lawsuit against Sergio Tacchini, the Italian sportswear manufacturer, with whom she had a five-year sponsorship deal. Hingis claimed that she had been provided with "defective" shoes "unsuitable for competition." Tacchini said the claims had been made only so Hingis could avoid paying damages for breaching her contract with the company.

In 1998, Hingis's left ankle was damaged during a match she lost to Dominique Van Roost, of Belgium, in Filderstadt, Germany (the result enabled Davenport to overtake Hingis as No 1). Hingis recovered after treatment and rest and went on to regain the No 1 ranking.

Filderstadt was also the scene of an injury to Hingis's right ankle which resulted in surgery last year. On that occasion Hingis retired against Davenport, who was leading 2-1 in the first set of the semi-final. As a result, Capriati became No 1.

In May this year Hingis lost to Venus Williams in the singles semi-finals in Hamburg and won the doubles title with Barbara Schett, of Austria. That was Hingis's last match. She withdrew from tournaments in Berlin and Rome because of severe pain in her left foot, left knee and left hip. Her physician, Dr Heinz Beuhlmann, gave a worrying prognosis: "We cannot yet say how sensible it would be for her to continue her career or whether to end it would be advisable on medical grounds."

Dr Beuhlmann operated on Hingis's left ankle on 20 May. She withdrew from the French Open and Wimbledon, the first Grand Slam events she had missed since turning professional in 1994.

Although the operation was a success, it would be wrong to expect too much from Hingis, who has struggled to outplay the bigger hitters since losing to Capriati in the 2001 Australian Open final. That defeat was particularly disappointing for Hingis, who had become the first player to beat both Williams sisters in a Grand Slam singles tournament. She recovered from 1-4 and 3-5 in the third set of her quarter-final against Serena and dispatched Venus, 6-1, 6-1, in the semi-finals (Venus's heav- iest defeat as a professional).

Hingis will have to improve the pace, placement and consistency of her serve in order to give her the opportunity to impose her courtcraft on opponents she cannot out-hit.

It will not be easy, because her strong, athletic rivals have blossomed. As Serena Williams says: "Tennis has come a long way. Monica [Seles] raised the level when she came along, hitting the ball very hard. Obviously, Martina Navratilova raised the level also. This is just the time for hard hitters, but there's also a lot of finesse out there you can't just hit every ball hard, you have to have an angle here, a drop there a lob here. That's why we do well in doubles because we hit hard, but have finesse, also."

MARTINA HINGIS THE LIFE AND TIMES

Born: 30 September 1980.
Birthplace: Kosice, Slovakia.
Lives: Trubbach, Switzerland, and Saddlebrook, Florida, US.
Height: 5ft 7in.
Weight: 9st 3lb.
Turned professional: 14 October 1994.

Highest singles ranking: No 1 (31 March 1997 for a total of 209 weeks, not consecutively).

Current singles ranking: No 8.

Grand Slam singles titles: 5 (Australian Open 1997-98-99, Wimbledon 1997, United States Open 1997).

WTA Tour singles titles: 40.

WTA Tour doubles titles: 36, including 9 Grand Slam titles.

Career highlights: Youngest Grand Slam junior singles champion, aged 12, at 1993 French Open. Youngest Wimbledon junior singles champion, aged 13 years, 276 days, in 1994. Youngest Wimbledon champion, aged 15 years, 282 days, winning women's doubles title with Helena Sukova. Youngest Grand Slam singles champion of 20th century, aged 16 years, three months and 26 days at 1997 Australian Open. Youngest world No 1, aged 16 years, six months and one day in 1997. Youngest Wimbledon singles champion (aged 16 years, nine months, five days in 1997) since Lottie Dod (aged 15 years and 285 days in 1887).

Career prize money: £11.7m

They say: "When Martina came on the scene people had a tough time figuring out her game, and that gave her a lot of success. More than anything, you can see that she loves winning, she hates losing, and that contributed a lot to her success. I think she came in at a great time. Steffi [Graf] was injured, and the top player at that point was maybe Arantxa [Sanchez-Vicario]." Venus Williams, twice Wimbledon and United States Open champion and former world No 1.

"You've got to give the Williams sisters credit for being No 1 and No 2, but mostly it's just because not everyone is in the game. It took a while to get used to Lindsay [Davenport] not being there, and this is the first year Martina [Hingis] has missed Grand Slam tournaments." Jennifer Capriati, Australian Open champion and former world No 1.

She says: "I have a passion for the game, so I like watching it on television. And I wanted also to see how the girls are doing, to be ready when I come back."