It's mind over matter for Hingis

By Arif Suryobuwono

JAKARTA (JP): If the world number one female tennis player Steffi Graf, at the start of her phenomenal career, was dubbed "Frulein Vorhand" because of her excellent forehand, what should the youngest Wimbledon champion in history Martina Hingis be called?

"Frulein Kopf" (literally Miss Head), her mother and coach Melanie Hingis said spontaneously, referring to her daughter's smartness.

Quipping that forehands, backhands and other strokes in tennis are merely of secondary importance, Melanie said, in a staccato tone, that the most important thing in tennis is "the thinking" or "the gray cells" of the brain as Agatha Christie's Hercule Poirot would put it.

Martina seemed more than annoyed when I refer to her as such. "Everyone knows that I am smart on court but nobody calls me that. Well, of course I have to be smart on court because my opponents are older than me."

Martina became the youngest Wimbledon champion in history after winning the doubles title with Helena Sukova on Monday. Along with her Swiss teammates, the new grand slam champion is here for the Fed Cup second-round playoff against Indonesia.

The 15 years, 286 day-old then said that Steffi might have an excellent forehand but "my backhand is better than Steffi's."

That was at least the answer that she finally, inadvertently gave to my question two days earlier when I asked her which was her best stroke. She initially answered that all strokes were of equal importance to her and that "you shall see for yourself later" which of the strokes is the best.

The Czech-born Swiss claims that she always wants to be herself. She said that she does not want to be compared to other players and that she has no tennis idol even though her first name, Martina, was chosen by her tennis-obsessed mother who adored the Czech-born tennis legend Martina Navratilova, whom she also used to idolize.

Fun, motivation

Back to her mother's "Frulein Kopf," which she might, in the first instance, mistake for the way of thinking of a young unmarried lady, Martina said that smartness was of course important, but for her, fun and motivation played the major role in tennis.

Judging from her answers, Martina is indeed smart. She straightforwardly cuts any questions that she does not like, or perhaps is unable, to answer. When I asked her what was the most important thing in life, she said she would not answer that question because it had nothing to do with tennis.

About her father, who is separated from her mother, she won't say more than "I do not miss him."

She is also diplomatic. When I asked her whether she is attached to her mother, who has been coaching her since she was three years old, she said that she did not train with a world famous coach such as John Newcombe but with her mother. When I pressed her by asking whether she is dependent on her mother, she finally said, "No, no more."

Martina was born in Kosice, Slovakia, on Sept. 30, 1980. She moved to Switzerland at the age of seven. She keeps a horse named Montana and a Labrador named Zorro. She takes photographs of the pets with her wherever she travels.

Her favorite court surface is clay, on which she has recorded most of her victories.

Her greatest victory thus far, she said, was the one over Graf in early May in Rome while her most disappointing loss was to Nana Miyagi in Key Biscayne, Florida, last year.

Martina plays not only tennis, but also soccer, hockey and basketball. She is also an active swimmer, horse rider and skier. "Those kinds of sports greatly enhance my movement," said Martina who trains at tennis for only one and a half to two hours a day and spends the rest of the time on other sports.

Despite her very young age and her tight tournament schedules, Martina does not seem to be suffering from burnout, as Olympic champion Jennifer Capriati did.

According to International Tennis Federation (ITF) vice- president and chairman of the Fed Cup committee Heinz Grimm, the ITF has set an age limit of 16 for girls who want to fully turn pro.

"Girls below 16 such as Martina are allowed to turn pro but not fully. This means that they can tour only for a certain number of weeks beginning from the age of 14," Grimm said.

Thus, as the girl gets older, the number of tournaments which she can participate in increases proportionally until she turns 16, he explained.

Martina says she does not feel any burden of being famous worldwide. Nor does she feel the burden of the tight tournament schedules she has. She says that even though she does not go to school and only learns English and French with a private teacher, time permitting, she does not feel lonely.

"Yes, I don't have schoolmates. But that is compensated by the many friends from the tennis circle I am in," she said.