(July 31, 2013) -- Six years after retiring from the sport,
Martina Hingis made a winning debut in her comeback on the doubles court at the Southern California Open in Carlsbad, Calif.
Hingis and her partner
Daniela Hantuchova had no trouble dispatching the team of
Julia Goerges and
Darija Jurak 6-1, 6-1 in 51 minutes.
The winner of five Grand Slam singles titles and nine Grand Slam doubles titles, Hingis looked sharp on court and never faced a break point in the entire match.
When asked why she played so well, Hingis credited her time spent competing with World Team Tennis over the last few years.
"It's because I play World Team Tennis," Hingis said to WTA.com. "It's pretty much the same format and it's so intense, and playing all three events during those three weeks keeps you on top of your game."
Hingis, who last retired from the sport in 2007, is scheduled to compete at several events in doubles leading up to this year's US Open. In a press conference the day before, Hingis cited her recent stint coaching
Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova as being one reason she decided to go for the comeback again.
But, of course, the big question everyone wanted to know is if Hingis is planning a return to singles competition as hinted earlier in the month by Tennis Channel analyst Lindsay Davenport.
The short answer is "no."
"Not singles, no. It's a completely different world," Hingis said. "Even World TeamTennis now, it's brutal, it's only one set but still the next day you wake up, and you have to put so much more effort into it. When you're 17 everything seems so easy, but now I'm almost twice the age. I wouldn't want to come out and play one or two matches and then lose third round, that's not my type of personality. So not at this point, no."
Hingis has not decided yet if she will play at the US Open and a lot depends on how well she does in the next few events. Though she is thrilled to be playing with Hantuchova, her partner at the upcoming tournaments is still to be determined.
When asked if she felt nervous going into her first WTA main draw match in over six years, Hingis said, "Of course, who wouldn't be, I'm only human, too!"
Hantuchova and Hingis will next play against the No. 3 seeds
Racquel Kops-Jones and
Abigail Spears on Friday.
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