Martina retires for good

In the summer of 1996, the Chicago Bulls were the biggest sports news around. Led by an incandescent and revitalized Michael Jordan, Chicago throttled the league and the Seattle Supersonics en route to their 4th NBA title.

About two months later as I was still celebrating the Bulls' victory, I took notice a young Swiss Miss kicking butt and taking names in the US Open. Martina Hingis was like 16 years old at that time when she reached the Women's Singles semi-finals.

It wasn't hard to be a fan of hers then because she had a game that belied her age. Sure Anna Kournikova with the whistlebait figure drew the attention of the male fans and even non-tennis fans, but her lack of game didn't do much for me. At least you know that I was into the sport more than for the babes who were beginning to populate the WTA.

Unfortunately, Hingis' petulance put me off somewhat so when Steffi Graf kicked her butt in the French Open prior to the Swiss Miss' first retirement, it wasn't hard not to feel that bad for her. All I could think of was, "what a waste of talent" and "this girl needs a little humbling."

Yet when she came back I was ecstatic. Here was supposedly a more chaste and mature girl who not only looked prettier but played an even smarter game. For all of Masha's atomic serves and supermodel looks, I somewhat still rooted for Martina. And that was despite there being something about her that made her a heroine and an anti-heroine at the same time.

This time around, I rooted for her more vociferously. I wanted her to win at leats one more Grand Slam but her guile and smarts on the court were overwhelmed by stronger and faster opponents.

Now it's the end of the road for her. An unlikely ending to her comeback when she retired after testing positive for cocaine use during the last Wimbledon. She tearfully denied any use of drugs. In fact that was her only statement in a press conference before departing in tears.

Now it's the same as before. I don't know what to think about Martina Hingis. Like Lance Armstrong or even Barry Bonds before her, the question now is: are they genuine heroes or snake-tongued villains?


I'd rather not think about it for the moment coz it's kind of numbing as a Hingis fan and a tennis fan. Thanks, Martina. Best of luck to whatever your next endeavor is.