|
|
|
|
|
MORE ABOUT MARTINA HINGIS Martina was born on 30 th September, 1980 in Kosice in now Slovakia to mother Melanie Molitor and father Karol Hingis. She was (talk about destiny!) named after Martina Navratilova and had no siblings. Both Martina'a mother and father played tennis quite well. They married and Martina was born four years later. As a toddler she used to sit on a blanket watching her parents and she started "playing' at the age of 2. Melanie divorced and moved with Martina to Roznov, in the now Czech Republic. Martina entered her first tournament at the age of 4, when she couldn't even see above the net! Her first match ended 6-0, 6-0. For her much older opponent. But soon Martina started winning her matches. When martina was 8, Melanie remarried with the Swiss computer scientist Andreas Zogg. Together they moved to Trubbach, a small town in the north of German speaking Switzerland, where Martina still lives in her own apartment attached to the main house. Melanie later divorced again and is currently engaged with Mario Widmer, a Swiss sports journalist. She is Martina's coach and mother, a double role that led to some teen troubles in the past. But Martina always calls her mother "best friend". The two of them also own a house in Roznov, and recently acquired a villa in Saddlebrook, Florida, near the harry Hopmans Tennis Academy where Martina lives when in the USA. Martina is 20 years old, 1.70m x 59 kg, has natural chestnut hair and blue eyes. She plays right-handed forehand and two-handed backhand, she is the archetipal all-court player, at ease playing from the baseline or with a natural serve and volley. Her astonishing talent and wide array of shots are coupled with a strong mind and a tactical sense that many chess masters dream to have, making her extremely dangerous on court.
Martina's career as a junior was very successful: In 1993 she won the french open
singles and the futures in langenthal. In 1994 she won the french open
singles and doubles and the wimbledon singles as well. The same year Martina debuted in
the WTA rankings. Her first tournament victory was
at the 1996 Porsche Tennis Grand Prix in Filderstadt and she was ranked number 1 for the
first time on March 31 st, 1997. The Youngest No.1 Since her stellar year of 1997,
Martina has won 5 grand slam titles in singles and 8 in doubles, with
an astonishing 3+3 in the Australian Open. She also triumphed in the WTA Masters
in singles in 1998 and in doubles in 1999. Away from the game, her main interest
is in horses. She owns three (Montana, Velvet and Sorrenta) and she
loves to ride (somewhat dangerously) them through the wild swiss mountains. She also has a dog, a black German
shepard named Zorro. Martina is an attentive spectator, but likes to
partecipate in all the sports you can imagine. rollerblading, mountain
biking, boxing and of course some occasional tennis. She hates to practice and prefers
to play (with some success) doubles instead. In 1998 she completed the
doubles grand slam. Martina likes dancing, going to
the movies and musicals and apparently her favourites are Forrest Gump
and Miss Saigon. She has stated that the cities she
likes most on the tour are New York and Paris. Her favourite foods are sushi and
chicken fajitas (what? no spaghetti?) and she also loves chocolate. Martina became the first female athlete to be on the cover of the American men's magazine GQ in June 1998 and later in the year she was
immortalized in wax at the famous Madame Tussaud's wax Museum in London. Martina self-described herself as : grounded, intelligent, quiet, calm and uncompromising. She speaks Czech, English and German.
Design by Yuki Holland
|
©