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PACIFIC LIFE OPEN

March 15, 2006

Martina Hingis

INDIAN WELLS, CALIFORNIA

THE MODERATOR: Questions for Martina, please
Q. With your success so far, I don't know if you can still call it a comeback. How proud have you been of your 2006 season?
MARTINA HINGIS: Yeah, so far so good. Definitely I'm very happy with the progress I'm making. Today probably wasn't all the prettiest game, but it was effective at the end of the day. I'm happy to be through, in the semis again.
Q. Today got you win number 20. You're the first to get there.
MARTINA HINGIS: I'm not counting like that. Now that you tell me, it definitely feels good. I think to me more important is to be in the semifinals of this event. It's a big one. After the Grand Slams, pretty much for all the players, one of the more important ones.
Yeah, you know, just waiting for a next opponent to come.
Q. Do you still see this as a comeback or is that over with now?
MARTINA HINGIS: I think that's pretty much over with now. It's just more because this is my first American tournament that people look at it still as a comeback.
But I'd say the Australia trip, that was more of a comeback. Since then that I've played Tokyo, the two Middle East events, and now here, I wouldn't call this -- yeah, come back to USA. That's probably the only thing, yeah.
Q. When you started on your return to tennis, did you give yourself, "I'll be satisfied if I get this far in tournaments in the first month, but by the third month, I want to be in the semis?"
MARTINA HINGIS: Yeah, I just always set myself short-term goals because I wanted to keep it real, not to just say I'm going to be No. 1 or top 5 by this and this time because I don't think it's realistic. You just first have to play those opponents in the top 5, top 10 to make sure that you have still the game and still could make it.
Yeah, I think like I always said, the rankings will come automatically if I show results.
Q. Did you say, "By the end of March I want my first title"?
MARTINA HINGIS: No, I said I want to be seeded here. That came true. It was just really important coming from Doha to have a couple days. I had a Friday start, not already Wednesday, which would be pretty cruel. Yeah, that was the goal.
I was 32 by then. So, yeah, I made it. That I was seeded 19, you can't always participate on luck that some people show up or don't. Like that I knew, by making the quarters or semis, I was going to be seeded.
Q. How is your body holding up after back-to-back days of playing?
MARTINA HINGIS: Well, I think all of us have to go through certain things. Definitely an ache here or there. I have a long time to recover now until Friday. That definitely helps hopefully.
Yeah, I'll have plenty of recovery time, a sauna, a Spa. That's nice about the hotel. It's a very good place to be in.
Q. Has anything surprised you about coming back to the tour?
MARTINA HINGIS: Well, no, because I've lived the tour for so long, eight years, 10 years. I mean, nothing really can surprise me any more. Maybe more in life than on the tennis court. Not really in this environment because, I mean, I don't know anything else. In life, when I was away, there were some surprises. Not in the tennis world.
Q. What were those surprises?
MARTINA HINGIS: I don't know. Daily things. Well, not really surprises, but just find yourself in a different situation where you don't know always how to handle things. But also was probably the most positive thing, everything I was doing in tennis was also very effective in life, to have the discipline, to have the regime, to have routines, that you can always hold on to something, what you were doing, and also do it in life.
Q. Did you hear or read about the comments that Roger Federer made about you yesterday?
MARTINA HINGIS: No. Tell me.
Q. He said he was thrilled obviously that you'd made this return, but he didn't think you'd make the top 30 till the end of the year. He's very happily surprised at the way you've played and that you should really now be challenging for Grand Slams as you did in Australia.
MARTINA HINGIS: Well, I think so, too, now. I just saw him after the match. He congratulated me. That's nice. On the men's side, he's the one to beat right now. He has some challenges to come up against. You know, I have mine. We've always been good friends, yeah.
Q. Did you have any problems getting up for this match today after that big one you had against Lindsay yesterday? Did you have any problems psyching yourself up to play well?
MARTINA HINGIS: Maybe my body was a little, yeah, achy or rusty or however you want to call it. I don't think necessarily an 11:00 start is very positive, as well. At one stage, no one was there. On the other hand, I think coming back-to-back days, one match at 11, the other at 7, I don't think it's right.
I think a lot of things have to do with TV, but I still don't think it's right. At least 12:00 or 1:00 start would be definitely more appropriate for a quarterfinal match. Well, I'll have a word, and maybe in the future we can change that.
If we can't -- I mean, that's one thing that the players have to say and stand up for. I just don't think -- well, what do you think? I just don't think it's right after coming back-to-back, having to play the next day at 11. For whatever reason that is, I don't know, but I'll ask.
Q. At the French you said you weren't a morning person. You're still not a morning person?
MARTINA HINGIS: No. Probably won't ever be. But I try my hardest. I came through today's match, so I'm happy. You always try to get yourself ready and prepared in a different way.
Like you said, after coming back on court today after beating Lindsay, it's just not easy - mentally and physically. Thank God, if I had to probably face Justine Henin or someone else, it would be a different story. But Safina still needs to learn a few things. She had a rough one against Myskina. We were probably much in a very similar position.
But I was more confident today after that win yesterday that I had still more to give.
Q. In this match today she suffered a pretty hard fall. Do you remember what the score was?
MARTINA HINGIS: It was like 1-All.
Q. Was it like 30-40?
MARTINA HINGIS: I know we had to go deuce side. I don't know after that point, 15-All, 30-All. I don't know what it was. She didn't seem like she was running afterwards.
Q. We were talking about Roger earlier. Do you remember the circumstances of when you first met him?
MARTINA HINGIS: Like when he was like really little?
Q. The first time you became aware of who he was.
MARTINA HINGIS: Just watching him. I think he made first finals in Milan. I watched it on TV. Then he made another couple finals indoors. I don't know whether Marseille, somewhere else. I really don't know. Then Hopman Cup for sure when we teamed up together, won that thing finally.
Q. Are you close enough to where you would have talked to him before deciding to come back for advice or words of wisdom?
MARTINA HINGIS: No. He just sent me a message that he thinks it's great that I'm coming back, very encouraging. But not, "Hey, you think like I should be coming back or not?" No, I think that's more up to the supportive crew you have within the family, really the people who can help you. It's not like he's going to be my hitting partner next week.
Q. Why not?
MARTINA HINGIS: I wish (smiling).
Q. Regardless of whether or not you win any more matches in this tournament, how happy have you been with your performance in terms of getting back?
MARTINA HINGIS: So far I think I've shown some pretty good tennis, especially the one match against Lindsay yesterday, the early rounds. Today was probably, you know, more of a confidence and really speeded it up when I really needed to, the really important points, crucial points towards the end of the sets.
Well, now I've got a day of rest. See what I can do in the semifinals.
Q. Have you exceeded your expectations for this tournament?
MARTINA HINGIS: Not at this tournament. I mean, I knew I had a rough draw, especially playing Lindsay in the fourth round. Since coming through that one, I'm pretty positive I can play some more matches.
Q. How do you think you've grown since being off the tour and in what way?
MARTINA HINGIS: Maybe my mind. Sometimes, like I've been saying, when you're 17, 18, you are just very one-sided. That's all you think. You think you miss out on so much in life, but you don't really. I've realized that.
A lot of people do that, go through this kind of thing. Agassi was going through it. Jennifer. Everybody has sometimes those fallouts. It's great that we always had another chance and opportunity to come back and play this game.

End of FastScripts...

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