Don't you think it will only get harder for Martina?

I absolutely hate to say this but this match just confirmed what many people have been saying for the last three years. Martina Hingis WILL NEVER win a grand slam singles title again.

When she lost to Steffi Graf, a lot of people asked that. I still believed in her. Because not only was she close, but there were circumstances that were involved that made her to lose. A whole heap of issues.

When she lost to Serena Williams at the US Open final, she was just outplayed. That was the time when Martina was having difficulty with power players. Serena was just too good.

Same when she lost to Lindsay Davenport at the Australian Open final. She was lucky to have been competitive in the 2nd set.

Last year, well she made changes to her game and she was beginning to contend with the power players, but again Jennifer Capriati came out and blew her away.

This time things are different. Really different. 6-4 4-0, the commentators were saying Hingis is the aggressor and she's the one dominating Capriati a power player. Yet again she just wasn't able to close out the match, given 4 match point opportunities. Sorry but if you can't win a grand slam given those opportunities, you'll never win one again.

There's a quote of Jennifer's I found interesting: <i>"I don't really know how I won this match today"</i>

Well I hate to say this, but we're going to hear a lot more players saying that in grand slam finals in the future if they happen to face Martina Hingis.

Look by all means, I wish her luck and a great future on or off the tennis court but believe me she won't win a grand slam again.

3. Let's compare her matches against Monica and Jennifer. They were really similar.
Martina led 5-1 against Monica and 'choked' = she played too safely, too passive, waiting for the errors, while then making errors herself. The disaster that happened today could have happened there as well.
She led 5-4 40-15, 2 match-points. The first one she played too passive. The 2nd one she played too passive as well, but Monica missed. Martina won.
Today, the same thing: Martina had a huge lead and played too passive, she had match-points but didn't go for them.
Now couldn't Jennifer have missed one of them as well ?
Of course she could have. Then Martina would be the champion and no one would talk about her GS-problem anymore.
But she didn't miss. Jennifer took the risk, played aggressive and it worked.
And in a championship match, you HAVE to be aggressive. You can't wait for the errors.

4. Summary: Martina desperately wanted to win this title so she didn't want to do anything wrong but that failed.
Her mental problems in crucial situations will be even bigger now unless she realises that you have to work for the title yourself and not letting the opponent do the work.
Who knows, maybe she reaches another final, plays it safe and wins it. But these chances are slim.
She was offered the title on a plate here. It's only her fault that she's without it now.

I agree with you that it will only get harder for Martina to win Slams. But not in the way that you may think. People keep saying that Martina has time on her side, but I'd like to debunk that myth. She doesn't have that much time. The time is always now. With the amount of power she is facing these days, her youth becomes ever moreso crucial. She has the best chance to blunt them when she is young. All players realize this, hence why they seem to feel disappointed at every lost opportunity. Martina turns 22 this year. The years go by quickly. Before you know it, she will be 28 and contemplating retirement. The years tend to breeze by like that. The older she gets, the less effective she may get. I can see that she is strong now. She is nearing her peak years. Between the ages of 21-24 is where it all happens for most female players, with exception to serve-volleyers. In a few years time, she might suffer more injuries. She might get slower. She might lose strength. Anything could happen.

But I also agree about confidence being a factor, and I think it's also tied in with the above. With each loss, not only is there a loss in confidence but more desperation. And players know that when you're anxious or when you rush unnecessarily, that you don't play your best tennis. At the start of the final, I believe that Martina felt she had put the past behind her and that she was hungry, but then when it got to that crucial stage, her memory returned to seize her and she forgot everything and started playing out of desperation. She made critical errors at the wrong times. She was rushing. She wanted to win so badly. She also hung back and played passively again at crucial moments. She fell into old, bad patterns. She retreated to what she knew best. Her guile and much-praised tennis mind failed her because her confidence wasn't there. It'll only get tougher with age. She has to break the pattern now or never.

I think it will get tougher for Martina - but it won't have anything to do with her being unable to physically cope with power tennis. She can cope just fine with it; she didn't lose to Capriati because she was overpowered. She has to work a little more for her points, but until the 2nd set tiebreak, she was doing that fine. She lost because of her mentality: she choked, she played it safe on the big points (as opposed to Capriati, who plays out of her head on big points). I believe that if she'd had two match points in a row she would have taken the second; as it happened, every time she frittered away a match point she had to work to get back there. And it's the mental aspect of her game, which used to be so impeccable, rather than the physical aspect of her game, which will be her big stumbling block now.

I'm not a big Hingis fan, but she played just amazing tennis this whole tournament, and played very well the first set and a half. She was taking the ball early and setting up inside the baseline and really moving into the court when she hit the ball. I think she has actually found a good way to counter the power hitters. I do think she'll sneak another GS in because in general she plays much more error free tennis than the big hitters. 2001 and 2002 Australian finals were exceptions to that. I prefer the big hitters, but for crying out loud they hit the ball out or into the net so much that they give away a lot of points. Martina is so steady, and has become much more aggressive, that I think she still has it in her to win GSs. She outplayed Monica completely, I think. But Monica hit A LOT of balls into the net. And missed a lot of serves. So she gave away a lot of points. Unfortunately Hingis tends to give away THE points - ie match points, or big overheads at the US Open, but I was still VERY impressed by how she played this tournament. She's actually gone up in my estimation seeing her finally make changes to her game that has allowed her to counter the big hitters. Jen didn't out hit her, she outlasted her (more credit to her).
Ruth in Philly PA USA