Exactly 20 years ago today, on Sept. 7, 1997, top-seeded Martina Hingis beat Venus Williams in straight sets to win her first US Open singles title – at age 16 – in the inaugural year of Arthur Ashe Stadium.
The former world No. 1 captured five major singles titles in her career, retired from tennis for the first time in 2003 at age 22 due to injuries and again in 2013, before returning to competitive play to concentrate solely on doubles. At 36, the 2013 inductee into the International Tennis Hall of Fame is now ranked No. 5 in the world in doubles, and at this year's US Open, she has reached the mixed doubles semifinals with Jamie Murray and the women's doubles quarterfinals with Chan Yung-Jan.
Between matches, Hingis sat down with USOpen.org for an exclusive interview.
USOpen.org: 1997 marked your first and only US Open singles title. Do you have any memorabilia from the final?
Martina Hingis: No, I don’t think so. It’s nicer actually to give it somewhere, like a museum, or auction it off so people get to see that. Some things are in the Hall of Fame. I think the US Open trophy is there. It's safer there than being in my apartment; I’ve moved too many times. But I have the memories. In one way, [that 1997 title] feels far away, but on the other hand, it was my first tennis lifetime.
USOpen.org: In hindsight, 20 years later, how would you characterize the significance of your 1997 victory?
Martina Hingis: Well, it was one of the youngest finals – if not THE youngest – in the history of the US Open [in the Open era]. Obviously, I feel very flattered to be part of that and honored to have won that title against Venus. Although we were the same age [Venus was born three months earlier], I felt like I was one year ahead because I had won a couple of titles prior, like Australian Open and Wimbledon, and for her it was the first [Grand Slam final], so I felt like I had a little bit more experience. That gave me the edge. Plus, I never lost to Venus in a Grand Slam before, so why should it be here different? That changed the first time in 2000, I guess.
USOpen.org: What finally brought you back to the game? What was the pull?
Martina Hingis: Because I like the challenge. I was coaching the girls, like [Anastasia] Pavlyuchenkova and Sabine Lisicki, and I played a couple sets just for fun against [Russia’s Ekaterina] Makarova and [Elena] Vesnina and actually won. We actually won quite comfortably. I was almost surprised because they had just made the finals at the French Open. With Sabine, we ended winning the second time we played together, in Miami [in 2014]. We won the quarters from seven match points [down], so that was a little bit of a turning point, to win that match and then win the title. Maybe if that didn’t happen, who knows if I’d just continue coaching? But those are the key points sometimes in life, right? Sometimes one point away, you’re [either] in or out.
USOpen.org: Has there ever been a time where you were 100 percent away from tennis and didn’t even touch a racquet?
Martina Hingis: Almost never. Just a brief time when I stopped the second time around. But I still hit every now and then, just for myself. Not every day, but once a week probably. I was doing more horseback riding at that time.
USOpen.org: Do you ever look at the singles draw and wish you were in it? Especially this year?
Martina Hingis: No, no, not at all. Physically, it’s still very demanding. I know how much it takes to be there and to give yourself a shot at [a championship title].
USOpen.org: But you’re fit, right? Age 36 or 37 is nothing.
Martina Hingis: I always like that people think that, so just keep thinking that.
USOpen.org: So you look at that draw and you think, 'Nah, I’m done with singles?'
Martina Hingis: But no, I mean, four Americans can all make it into semis. It’s crazy. And they’ve played really well. I mean, the matches that I saw – like [Madison] Keys' [fourth-round] comeback. I think really they made a step forward, both of them; Keys and CoCo [Vandeweghe], especially in the last couple months. It feels like this is really a turning point. It finally clicked. Same with CoCo making semis in Australia, and now. I always complain about the young players playing a little bit brainless, but actually now it seems like it’s falling into place. They had the shots and the ability, but they were just not able to keep it for straight sets or three sets. And now they don’t have those loops anymore. They can actually keep the ball in play.
USOpen.org: In your own game, what do you do better now than you did in the thick of your singles career?
Martina Hingis: My volley is even better now because I really concentrate on it. It was always pretty good, and I could always finish with the volley or topspin volley, but I was not a natural person to just come in. But now [in doubles], it’s more of a forward motion. You don’t have to cover the whole court when you come in, so it’s different. It's more forward, not [lateral]. I also think my serve has improved with the strings and racquets today. Well... more like the second serve, sometimes.
USOpen.org: Do you still have tennis goals? What's left to accomplish?
Martina Hingis: Just keep going, winning championships. That’s the goal.