Now hailing from Switzerland, tennis star Martina Hingis was born on Sept. 30, 1980, in the town of Kosice, Czechoslovakia. Her parents, both professional tennis players, named her after famous Czech tennis player Martina Navratilova. So it was only natural that she picked up her first tennis racket and started hitting balls when she was only two years old. However, when she was still quite young, her parents divorced. After the split, Martina's mother took her to Switzerland, where she was born and raised. By the time she was four the child prodigy was entering tournaments.
In 2003 on the junior circuit, when she was just 12, Martina became the youngest player ever to win a Junior Grand Slam title. It was at the French Open, and it was a title that she would defend the following year. She also won the girls singles title at Wimbledon, earning her a spot atop the rankings. She went pro in October 1994, when she was merely 14 years old.
In 1995 she won her first match at the Australian Open, making her the youngest ever to win an opening round at a Grand Slam event. The next year she won the women's doubles competition at Wimbledon with partner Helena Sukova, again a "youngest ever" record for Hingis.
1997 would prove to be a huge year for Hingis. She started the year with a championship at the Australian Open, making her the youngest player to win a Grand Slam title in the 1900s. The victory earned her the number one ranking in the world. That year she also won Wimbledon and the US Open, but lost in the finals of the French Open.
Hingis became the third woman in history to simultaneously be ranked number one in singles and doubles in 1998. She won all four doubles titles in Grand Slam events. She also won her final singles Grand Slam event, the Australian Open, for a third straight year. During the following years Hingis' career would begin decline as she was plagued with injuries. She had surgery on an ankle in 2001 and her career hasn't been the same since, despite advancing to the 2002 Australian Open finals. That followed with another surgery, and she announced her retirement in 2003.
When all was said and done she had compiled 40 singles titles and 36 doubles titles. She won five Grand Slam titles in that time, at least once each, in all but the French Open.
Martina Hingis
Martina Hingis
Martina Hingis
Martina Hingis
Martina Hingis
Martina Hingis
Martina Hingis
Martina Hingis
Martina Hingis vs. Venus Williams 1999 USO Highlights
Martina Hingis
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