[quote]KEY BISCAYNE, Fla. (AP) -- The Williams sisters have done what once seemed impossible: They've transformed Martina Hingis into a sympathetic figure.

Once a brash teen tennis queen, Hingis can no longer stay in a rally with the game's most powerful players. Serena Williams provided the latest evidence Wednesday, drubbing Hingis 6-4, 6-0 in the quarterfinals of the Nasdaq-100 Open.

Their once-fierce rivalry has become so lopsided that when they met at the net afterward, Williams offered Hingis a consoling pat on the back.

``It's kind of sad to see a champion like Martina lose all the time like she does when she plays Serena,'' said Richard Williams, father and coach of the sisters.
There was a time when Serena and Martina traded barbs after their matches, but those days are over. Now that Williams dominates, she has only nice things to say about the former No. 1.

``Until I was shaking her hand, that's when I knew the match was over,'' Serena said. ``I never think the match is over until it's done, because Martina is always good at making comebacks.''

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Yeah, the Williams-Hingis rivalry is over...

As a Hingis sympathizer, it pains me to see her get drubbed like a hapless kid. Sad to say, but the glory days of the quondam Swiss champion are over.


Kind of sad

[ March 28, 2002: Message edited by: tzeile29 ]

Thanks, tzeile29, for the article link!

Here are the post-match interviews for both Martina and Serena.

Martina's interview (I think one of the interviewers was kinda jerky to her):
http://www.nasdaq-100open.com/news/intrvws...2002/0327b.html

Serena's interview:
http://www.nasdaq-100open.com/news/intrvws...2002/0327c.html

Okay, apocalypse, we're ready.

I saw a picture of the back pat and thought "What the hell?!?"

Seriously, I'm glad that they can all put the rivalry behind them. It's healthier if they don't have all this animosity with each other. And by outside accounts, they're all very nice people.

That was very classy of Serena. And really I do feel bad for Hingis. Not that she's become my favorite player now, but I'm not against her ever winning again. The brash kid who was #1 for 200+ weeks is gone, and I imagine that really painful to her.

The saddest thing is her Grand Slam career is over and she's sooooo young. She'll still make money from the lesser tournaments though.

Z

Hingis will never be one of my favorites, but she's too good to never win another slam. The gods will smile on her again some day before the end of her career.

It's kind of sad? Give me a break. Richard Williams can take his patronizing trash talk and shove it up his arrogant ass. When Serena actually hits #1 for a fraction of the time that Hingis controlled it, only then will I listen to a moron like Richard Williams...Clearly, they're still trying to prove something...

Interesting point Bryan - but we all know that Martina's hold on #1 was a matter of the WTA ranking system and not Martina's domination of tennis.

I still say it's sad when a player of Martina's caliber and wealth refuses to change her game to be more competitive.

Let's remember just how dominating Hingis was in 97, 98 and part of 99 - 200 wks at #1 is almost four years so while she certainly didn't deserve the ranking for the last year or so that she held it, she undeniably deserved it for those first couple of years, she won a lot of tournaments and 5 grand slams, still more than Venus....And being #1 and holding on isn't exactly easy, you've got to get far in a hell of a lot of tournaments to stay there...Martina Hingis has never been my favorite player but everyone can't erase her accomplishments just because Serena's finally coming into her own...
By the time Seles and Graf were Venus's age or even Serena's, they had way more titles and grand slams....As far as I'm concerned, Serena still has a lot to prove especially with consistency and focus...And that's what it takes to be at the very top for more than a week or two...Venus has already given us two Wimby's and two US Open's, that's proof...
And while I do think Hingis has changed her game some, her serving is still a huge problem-And her mental game, which used to be tight as a drum, has deserted her during several crucial matches including the Aussie Open and her loss to Daniela...I'm afraid Martina needs to examine whether her Mother is still her best choice for coach...

And hey, how cute is Mike Sell? Damn...

Comparing the number of titles Venus and Serena have to the number that Graf and Seles had by that age is fruitless.

One could easily pull out the example of Navratilova to show that some players blossom later.

Yes, Serena does have a lot to prove. But damn, if she can keep up that brilliant play, she should get a check every Sunday.

I have to agree with both Bryan and Lev on this one. Serena has a lot to prove (only one grand slam final appearance in the past two years, after all), but she has looked awesome of late.
It will be interesting to see how she performs on clay--she's virtually skipped the clay court season other than the French for the last few years, and I think it has really cost her.

I totally agree with Bryan because when Serena becomes #1 then I'll start to believe that she's #1, but right now there's alot of talk and alot of unnecessary things. When Steffi or Monica were still teenagers they had it all and they were dominating the game like nobody's business. Serena does have alot to prove not only becoming #1, but just everything, she has the potential to do alot of damage with her powerful strokes, serves, movement. Need to work on that mental part of the game. Martina I think needs another coach to redefine her game and get her to bulk that serve, cause it's way too attackable. She gets a high percentage of first serves in, but they still get banged all over the corners of the court. Her second serves...well, I won't get into that, cause there's no words for it except "crunch". Mike Sell does look very cute indeed.

Well I think the title of this thread was meant to allude to a passing of the torch. Sure Serena is nowhere near #1 (in fact she only moves up to #7) but she has been on a tear since last summer. Since Los Angeles 2001- Serena's record is 2-0 vs Capriati, 1-1 vs Venus, 3-0 vs Hingis. Not bad for a player currently ranked #9

martina hingis is over, done, stick a fork in the swiss miss...

once all you martina fans get over that fact, you;d enjoy women's tennis so much more.

all this bit about serena having something toprove? of course she does and none of you are saying anything particularly new or interesting on that front..but to extol the virtues of martina hingis's nearly 4 year run as number one? come on, her reign might be one the hollowest first place rankings in a loooong time of women's tennis.

It's because Martina took her ranking more seriously than she did her play that ultimately did her in. and her fan's abetting of such behaviour only makes it sadder to see the girl fall.

Your tennis knowledge fails you, catchernyc! Martina's first two years or so as #1, with all those tournament wins and her 5 grand slam titles, speaks for itself. At least have the graciousness and honesty to recognize that, or it'll be hard to take any of your comments or observations seriously about serena or anyone in women's tennis...

[quote] her reign might be one the hollowest first place rankings in a loooong time of women's tennis.

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*YOUNGEST ever tennis player to win a slam

*WON 3 slams at age 16

*won 5 of 12 slams before age 20

*more than 40 WTA TOUR TITLES

*more than 200 weeks at number ONE

YEAH, this is HOLLOW! Was it her fault that she reigned before the dawn of power tennis?

Go ahead, stick the devil's fork in the Swiss Miss. But you can't change history!

[quote]Your tennis knowledge fails you, catchernyc! Martina's first two years or so as #1, with all those tournament wins and her 5 grand slam titles, speaks for itself. At least have the graciousness and honesty to recognize that, or it'll be hard to take any of your comments or observations seriously about serena or anyone in women's tennis...

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YOU HIT ONE OUT OF THE BALLPARK! LOVE YOUR POST!

[ March 30, 2002: Message edited by: tzeile29 ]

Hingis's first year-and-a-half at #1 were truly befitting a #1, but let's not get too gushy about it. Her magical year, 1997, was as much about good timing as it was good play because the old guard of Graf and Seles were fading, and the BBB had yet to come into their own. Despite whatever the rankings say, Martina's reign effectively ended at the 1998 U.S. Open when Lindsay overpowered Martina and there was nothing Martina could do to change the outcome. Since then, Martina's had no control in her matches against the BBB. She can win only if her Big Babe opponent is off. Otherwise, she has no say in the matter.

And I'm sorry, but Hingis's last year at #1 has to be the hollowest ranking in the history of the WTA. CatcherInNYC hit the nail on the head: Hingis cared more about her ranking than her game, and it did her in. What puzzles me about the "Hingis passing the torch" comment is that Hingis hasn't held that torch since September 1998. If Serena has a bang-up year and takes two of the remaining three majors, certainly a possibility, we'll look back at the Nasdaq 100 as the tournament where Venus passed the torch to Serena.

LOL
TZeile, I'd like to think that--considering this is a tennis thread--that Bryan attempted to ACE me rather than "hit one out of the ballpark" <g>....

that said, I admit that, yes, hingis did accomplish some amazing things during her initial reign. but i also think that at the end of the day, extolling her run at number one as the nexus of her greatness misses the point, which, though i left out the stats etc, was the point i was making...as Bosox understood (and made some great points on).

I'm not saying Martina NEVER did anything great. She did, in that fairly barren time between the reign of Steffi and the rise of the Big Babes...

if there's anything women's tennis has shown us in the last few years, greatness is not in the rank you have, but in the skills you bring onto the court and the results you carry off ot it.

i mean, come on, how many folks had to basically state that, rank or not, Venus is (was) the dominating player on the tour? When Venus DID become Number One in the rankings it seemed almost anti-climactic beacuse her play and ability was so obviously Number One before she had the "pointage" or whatever to actually own the rank.

It's not that I don't think Martina could rally a run and win some more of the biggies, but it seems to me that all this talk about how she was "once" Number One (and, thus, how great that makes her) only serves to keep her in the same place she is: losing and struggling and getting pats on the back from the girls who are passing her by like a clean Steffi winner.

As for my "tennis knowledge" and whether any one will or can take my comments seriously? What i don't know about Martina Hingis's stats has nothing to do with what i know about tennis.

Peace dudes...

bravo bosox and catcher

you completely understood the essence of this thread "williams consoles martina"

Just in from John Wertheim's Sports Illustrated column this week:

Serena Williams has lost but one of the last 24 matches she's completed. Never mind the rankings. Anyone who doesn't drop a set to Martina Hingis, Venus Williams and Jennifer Capriati in a span of 72 hours is the best in the game at the moment.

and who isn't living in the moment?

I am all giggly reading this thread. You will never see people this interested in the interactions between mens pro tennis players. They are too boring. The drama surrounding women's tennis is one of the reasons it's popularity is still surging.

Sure, the evolving power game helps. But the short repetitive points of the mens game is why people are starting to pay more attention to the WTA.

That said, I've been happily looking forward to Hingis' slide out of the top rankings (and she will slide further this year). Yes, she's been a great player. But let's not forget all the awful things she has said about other players on tour. Who knows, her slipping ranking and maturing a bit as a person may make her more modest. Maybe even eventually... likeable.

We all love Monica now, but she wasn't always so popular. It's when she came back, eager and happy to be playing, that we started pulling for her.

Begrudgingly, I'd have to say Hingis has been working at her game. She's looked fitter this year than she ever has. I even think she's hitting the ball with more pace. She's still the most consistent player out there. But it doesn't seem to be enough.

I think she'd win more fans back if she stopped grinning that evil smirk all the time. I HATE that smirk!

As far as the Williams sisters, god bless 'em. I think the people that don't like these girls are listening to the father too much. And you have to love how Serena's heart is always out there on her sleeve.

But gold shoes, girl? I love how daring she can be with her colors, but I can't say I think she picks the right ones.

I think it's all these things that make women's tennis so entertaining.

[ April 11, 2002: Message edited by: curtj ]