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Former world number one Martina Hingis slumped to defeat on her
comeback after two years out with an ankle injury on Tuesday and said she
had "no plans" to play in any other tournaments.
The 24-year-old Swiss lost 1-6, 6-2, 6-2 to Germany's Marlene
Weingartner in the first round of the Thailand Open.
Hingis was thought to be using the Thai event as a test for a full-time
return but she said: "My life has been very good the last couple of years.
I'm very comfortable, and this is really hard work.
"I've never had plans further than this step. Maybe I'll play some
exhibitions. That's my plan at the moment. At this point I have no plans
to play any more tournaments."
Hingis was seeking a low-key event in which to test her ability
to return to the WTA Tour and was on top for the first set against a
player ranked 73 in the world.
However, Hingis's service
began to deteriorate in the second set and her opponent took advantage of
a series of lightweight returns.
At 16, Hingis was on top of the world, the youngest winner of a grand slam last century, the
youngest world number one and the holder of the Australian, Wimbledon and
U.S. Open titles.
She compensated for her lack of height with superb court craft, great
timing and an indomitable will.
The advent of the powerful Williams sisters punctured Hingis's
dominance and her decline began. She won the last of her five grand slam
singles titles at the 1999 Australian Open.
Operations on her ankles in October 2001 and May 2002 led her to
withdraw from the sport. Before the Pattaya tournament her last match had
been in Filderstadt, Germany, in late 2002.
C: Former world number one Martina Hingis of Switzerland reacts after
losing a shot to Germany's Marlene Weingartner during the first round of
the Volvo Women's Open in Pattaya, about 120 km (75 miles) southeast of
Bangkok, February 1, 2005. (Reuters)
(Tue Feb 1,10:57 AM By Barry Wood Reuters)
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腳踝受傷而沉寂兩年后，前世界女網頭號種子馬蒂娜·辛吉斯本周二（2月1日）重返職業網壇，然而她在第一站就慘遭“滑鐵盧”，她說自己目前“尚無計劃”參加別的職業比賽。
這位現年24歲的瑞士女孩在泰國芭堤雅公開賽的首輪比賽中以6:1，2:6和2:6不敵德國選手馬琳·維因加特納。
此次泰國公開賽被認為是辛吉斯全面復出前的一次試驗，但她說：“過去幾年我過得很舒服也很愜意，要我再適應緊張的比賽和訓練，確實是一件很困難的事。"
“我還沒有更長遠的計劃，也許會參加一些表演賽。這就是我目前的打算。目前，我沒有參加更多職業比賽的計劃。”
辛吉斯想通過一場低調的賽事來衡量自己是否有能力重返世界女子網球巡回賽，在和世界排名第73位的對手對壘時，她曾取得了第一局比賽的勝利。
然而第二局開始后，辛吉斯發球的威力逐漸下降，而她的對手則利用一連串輕巧的回球占了上風。
辛吉斯16歲時就已經成為世界頭號女子網球選手，她也是上世紀最年輕的大滿貫獲得者，她還獲得了澳網、溫網和美網的三大頭銜。
盡管她個子不夠高，但辛吉斯用出色的球技、絕佳的時機掌握能力和不屈不撓的意志彌補了自己的不足。
實力強勁的威廉姆斯姐妹的到來打破了辛吉斯一統天下的局面，她的網球生涯開始走下坡路。在1999年的澳網公開賽上，她拿到了自己五個大滿貫中的最后一個單打冠軍。
她在2001年10月和2002年5月先后接受了兩次腳踝手術，最后不得不退出網壇。在參加此次泰國芭堤雅公開賽之前，她的最后一次露面是2002年底參加在德國菲爾德斯塔特舉行的比賽。
（中國日報網站譯） |
Updated: 2005-02-03 11:04
