SANEX WTA TOUR MEDIA CONFERENCE

February 19, 2002

Martina Hingis

MODERATOR: Thank you so much for joining us. We have a few selective writers on the conference call today. One, just to have a quick chat with you, and to talk about your upcoming US schedule, which includes the State Farm Women's Classic in Scottsdale, the Pacific Life Open in Indian Wells, and the Nasdaq-100 in Miami. Please go ahead and open it up to questions.

MARTINA HINGIS: I think she won the last two tournaments now, so it's a very close call there. All those players, it can be one week Jennifer, one week Venus. Hopefully, pretty soon I'll battle with them, too.

MARTINA HINGIS: It's just the beginning of the year. You still got, you know, the American tournaments coming up now. After that, probably they'll be able to say more.

MARTINA HINGIS: Well, like I said, I think at this point there's lots of girls up front which are still playing great tennis. So I think it gets more and more difficult, as you see in the men's game. You don't have too many steady No. 1 players up there. But, I mean, it was nice for me to be there for so long, like four years. At this point it's hard to say. I mean, like I said, the competition is getting stronger, so...

MARTINA HINGIS: Well, I think I started off very well. I mean, playing in Australia, I won the first tournament, then made the finals against Jennifer, won in Tokyo. So I can be very happy about the starting. Now I'm here in Florida practicing, getting ready for Scottsdale, Indian Wells and Miami. So I feel very good.

MARTINA HINGIS: It was mainly on court that little bit. It was nice to be home for like almost three straight months. I enjoyed that very much, been in the mountains, that gave me energy. I was practicing a lot, too. That paid off.

MARTINA HINGIS: I was like a few days in Europe, and then I came here to Florida to get ready.

MARTINA HINGIS: I'm in Florida right now, yes.

MARTINA HINGIS: I did all of these things, too, when I was in Switzerland, like growing up, I had a few boxing lessons for almost like two years. I do a lot of swimming, Tai Chi I used to do, too, a little bit. Now for me I think is better to spend as much time as I can on the court and do stuff like rollerblading or also swimming, like certain things on the court, it's always great, it helps. But tennis is my game, and that's what I can do the best.

MARTINA HINGIS: It went pretty well just the week after. I didn't have such a tough time getting over it. I won the week after that in Tokyo, beat Monica in the finals. I can't be too disappointed about that loss. I came very close. Can't get closer than having four match points. So I think I did better than expected.

MARTINA HINGIS: Yeah, somehow. Like I said, I didn't expect myself playing that well coming off of an injury. So, like I said, I won the first tournament, then did so well in the other two. Here in Florida, it's just the beginning of the season, so there's plenty of chances hopefully ahead of me.

MARTINA HINGIS: It's both together. I mean, if Jennifer wouldn't be playing that well, I'd still finish it hopefully somehow. I mean, it's the same heat for both. Can't blame it on the heat. But, you know, it was a great match. I got very close. Just ended up a little bit better than I, in the third set especially. She just had more to give. Hopefully I get to play her some more and have many more great finals like that.

MARTINA HINGIS: Oh, it was mainly also like in the room, not really in the ring. It's just great for the fitness, like jump rope, just like two hours straight, you just always do something. It's great for the stamina. It's a great physical workout. And got the speed and everything what you need for the tennis.

MARTINA HINGIS: How did I what?

MARTINA HINGIS: Probably just try to forget about it as soon as you can. I mean, (inaudible) play that thing, I can be very happy about it. Sometimes to believe in everything, just have to make it one more step. I think there in Tokyo I had great chance, it was very fast surface, I was the No. 1 seed, so I had to prove myself over again. That's what I did. I tried to do my best. I was playing very well at that point. Against Monica, it was a great final.

MARTINA HINGIS: For me it's like definitely for all the top players, the Grand Slams are very important, but also the upcoming tournaments. Every tournament you play, I'm a competitor, so I always want to do well. I always want to win, but you can't always win. It's very difficult in this competition. The next tournaments are very important to see how you do on hard court and also going into the clay tournaments in Europe. But that's far ahead. I mean, Indian Wells and Ericsson are big tournaments. They're very important. The Miami tournament, I didn't say the sponsor, right (laughter)?

MARTINA HINGIS: Oh, she was the most important person. I mean, that's what you need at tough times when you have surgery, when you're injured. You've got to have the right surroundings around you, otherwise you just never make it back. That's very important. I can always trust her and rely upon her. Also what I can say about Mario. That was just good to keep to the success I had early.

MARTINA HINGIS: Well, you see that all the time. I don't know, kids and their parents, just hang in there sometimes, you know. There are difficult times. For me, it was that I had success very early on. Somehow it just came that I always loved the game. So sooner or later, always like to come back and do well, even if you sometimes don't have like the highlights in your career. But try to do the best you can, and even sometimes it's not going your way, you just always try to believe in yourself and work hard.

MARTINA HINGIS: I mean, every round you have to take serious. I think it changed a little bit. You have the 32 seeds now, and that makes the draw a little bit more open because for the Top 30 players I would almost say a level higher than the rest of us. But you don't see the seeded player till third or fourth round. That makes it maybe a little bit easier. But I thought it was quite interesting to have the top 16, every now you had a tough first round. I had my junior (inaudible) Razzano, she was the No. 1 junior in the world in the past. I don't think I had the easiest first round. I just came prepared and played well. Now you just always have to be ready.

MARTINA HINGIS: Well, I was already working on it during my off time, you know, just speed-wise, the top girls, you just have to play a hard game. You just have to fight, even sometimes it doesn't work. Kind of like physically, definitely I have to play with them all. Now it's nice that I'm here in Florida and I can practice with the guys and also Jennifer sometimes. So for me it's great practice. But definitely speed-wise, that's the key in my game, just have the finesse and the anticipation. But that comes with much experience.

MARTINA HINGIS: Yeah, it was different. I wasn't as nervous sometimes going into the matches when you're like 14 or 15 you just go into it, you're free, you have nothing to lose. I don't feel like I have much to lose at this point. But just go into it a little bit different. More responsibility, you want to do better. I look at it from a different view. I think it's much better now.

MARTINA HINGIS: I mean, it's a good game, I like it. I mean, now I go into practices sometimes and I enjoy getting better. Before I was sometimes like, "Okay, do the same old business." But now it's more - I don't know, I just enjoy it more, especially coming off this injury and just prove myself again.

MARTINA HINGIS: I don't understand the question.

MARTINA HINGIS: I mean, last year when you know you go into tournaments and you know you're not in best shape, you kind of feel like, "Okay, those matches are going to be very hard to go through again, like the Williams sisters or Lindsay or Jennifer, and it's just going to be very hard to win." But now I feel like I made another step in my game that I got better. So I feel like I have the game to beat everybody.

MARTINA HINGIS: I mean, sometimes it happens. I mean, I beat Venus in Australia the year before, and I beat her more than once. Can't be embarrassed about it.

MARTINA HINGIS: Well, it doesn't feel the greatest. I mean, you just sometimes don't have the day. But she was just better than me at that point. But I knew it was very -- I mean, I was happy to get into the semifinals. I could have lost in the third round. Later in the fall I got injured. I knew, like I said, I wasn't playing the best tennis at that point. And that's very hard to beat somebody like Serena.

MARTINA HINGIS: Maybe a little bit, too, yeah, was part of it. Just the whole season wasn't -- I still made semifinals and played all right, but it wasn't like good enough. The break probably did me well. Now I feel like I'm playing better than before.

MARTINA HINGIS: Just the whole game got tougher, tougher on the body, too. It's an all-year sport. Play like 20, 22 tournaments a year. Body is not like everlasting, so sometimes it gets a little difficult. The way you practice, I haven't been really injured that much. I think, you know, you just got to plan your own schedule and try not to get injured. I can't really speak for the other girls. But I know with me, it works pretty well.

MARTINA HINGIS: Well, I haven't been there, so I don't know what exactly happened. I heard of it. Lucky-loser is not going to stay around for the whole week, so I don't know what they're thinking of. But definitely it's disappointing for the tournament director not having a final. But I don't know.

MARTINA HINGIS: In Scottsdale, I'm not planning on playing doubles.

MARTINA HINGIS: Well, I was there a couple years ago, and I like the place, it's a beautiful resort. It's a golfer's paradise, I guess. It's nice for playing tennis in the tournament. When I got there, we got rained out. It rains like three days a year, and we got rained out in the finals against Lindsay. It was a little disappointing. Hopefully this year will be better.

MARTINA HINGIS: Yeah, it's a strong field. I know Jennifer is playing. I don't know the whole list, but it's big. Knowing that everybody is there, it's great practice.

MARTINA HINGIS: A favorite tournament or part?

MARTINA HINGIS: Well, I like these tournaments. I like Indian Wells as much as I do Miami. They're all a little different. They have their own atmosphere, and the crowd, usually it's great. So it's nice to play in front of all these people.

MARTINA HINGIS: I know that Indian Wells, for me I always love to play that tournament. But I don't know why Scottsdale, I don't know, has better dates, or certain players like some tournaments better than others. I don't know, I'm playing all of them, so don't ask me.

MARTINA HINGIS: Yeah, I'll play with Anna. She's not playing in Scottsdale, so we'll play Indian Wells.

MARTINA HINGIS: I just love the site, you know, the mountains in the background, the new stadium, it's still a little rough, but now the last two years it's gotten better. I always had quite some success there, so it was always nice to be at least in the semifinals. Going back to the tournament, you say it's a good feeling. I kind of like it because of the attendance of the people, men's and women's tournament, so it always attracts more people, big crowds.

MARTINA HINGIS: The few titles I had there. Was it anything in particular about the two titles that made them special to you. The one time, I think the first year I won, it's the week after I became No. 1. That was one of the highlights. The other time, just to have won any games, great feeling.

MARTINA HINGIS: Yeah, I'll play doubles with Anna.

MARTINA HINGIS: Yeah, we just get along very well, and it's just a team where the team spirit works very well with her. We're about the same age, have the same interests. On the court, the chemistry has worked very well together.

MARTINA HINGIS: Thank you very much.