With the US Open a little over two weeks away, Martina Hingis is showing little or no sign of coming through her depressing run of results. She failed once again to impress, going out in the second round of the EastWest Bank Classic, beaten 6-2 2-6 6-4 by Sania Mirza of India.

Hingis, who was a runner up at this tournament in 1998, had to defend three match points but gave away the match to her opponent when she hit a forehand long on match point number four. So far this year, this is the sixth time she has fallen at the second round stage.

As a follower of Hingis’s career, early exits and being ousted by players outside the top 20 is not a fashion to which she is accustomed. In fact tennis experts and players alike expect her to be at least playing for quarter-finals or even better given a good draw. Playing against Hingis usually means you have to be in top form, performing at your highest level to beat her.

'Our Swiss Miss needs to live up to her 43 singles title, five Grand Slam trophies and 209 weeks as the world No.1'


But this is not what the records suggest lately as she has fallen at the second round at Dubai, Doha, Miami, Berlin, San Diego and very recently California. In fact, based on this statistic, she is becoming less and less of a threat (if I may say) not only to top 20 players but also to those outside that ranking. That edge of simply being Hingis is now becoming a part of the history book.

Which leads me to question whether this is because of her lack of commitment to the game, that once brought her so much fame at a very young age, or simply an issue of self morale and confidence? Is her comeback simply a trip down memory lane?

This is rather difficult to answer; only Hingis can best defend the meager results of her game. But whatever her reasons or alibis are, she may not disclose them to tennis fans. instead she should start claiming what was once hers. Our Swiss Miss needs to live up to her 43 singles title, five Grand Slam trophies and 209 weeks as the world No 1. Extremely hard to measure up to, but this forms part of her comeback.

If you try to watch her closely nowadays, her game is fundamentally still the home-grown Hingis trademark: whimsical, tactically and brutally unforeseen. Her second serve is still fragile and open to swift beheading on the other side of the court. But nothing much of her game has really changed. She is still the Martina Hingis who burst through in the late 90s. Well almost, with one major difference – she is a nicer and more mature player. Come to think of it, maybe these are the reason why she is not winning games. Along with her maturity comes being nice on and off court. Maybe she needs to be a bit cockier (with balance) which, I can say, is truly a Hingis trademark.

My statement is simple. Hingis needs to recapture her stature in the elite game or simply announce her retirement for good. I want her to be remembered as a champion, which she truly is, rather than a former champion who is still eager to recapture former glory.