Martina Hingis, who returned to the WTA earlier this month to play doubles, says it isn't as easy to recover as it was when she was a teenager. The 32-year-old Swiss and her partner Daniela Hantuchova have yet to advance past the second round in any of the three events they contested. They fell to the top-ranked team of Roberta Vinci and Sara Errani in Cincinnati.
“I could have played singles, doubles, and mixed the same day, and I came back the next day and I was all smiling and nothing was hurting,” Hingis told reporters about her early days on tour. “Today I play one match, and I'm like, 'Oh, my God.' I think the body is the most—she's like responding to me like, 'What are you doing to me?' But I think it takes time, and it will get better again, [I will] get used to it. There's no choice.”
The former No. 1 also said that watching her former rival, Venus Williams, still attempt to play top-level singles does not motivate her, but she is impressed by how well 31-year-old Serena Williams is playing.
“When you lose as a player like [Venus], it's not really encouraging because she plays well like first or second set and losing to players that she's not used to losing," Hingis said. "So, no, that's not encouraging at all.
"Serena it's a different story. She's got so much willpower, it's amazing. I really admire how she can still get out there and motivate herself all the time over and over all these years. But they had many more breaks. I had my break for three years, but, I was out there a lot younger. And I don't have the same body as them too. So it's a little bit different when you can hit four aces in a game. I don't have that weapon.”