Martina Hingis

Lore & Background

Martina Hingis was born in Košice, Czechoslovakia (now Slovakia) to tennis-playing parents. Her mother, a former professional, began developing her as a top player from pregnancy. Hingis defected with her mother to Switzerland at age seven and acquired Swiss citizenship through naturalization. She began playing tennis at age two and entered her first tournament at four. In 1993, at age 12, she became the youngest player to win a Grand Slam junior title at the French Open. She made her WTA debut in October 1994 at age 14 and ended that year ranked world No. 87.

Hingis set a series of 'youngest-ever' records in the 1990s, including youngest Grand Slam champion (winning the 1996 Wimbledon women's doubles at age 15 years and 9 months) and youngest world No. 1 (in March 1997). She won five Grand Slam singles titles, including three consecutive Australian Opens (1997–1999), and completed a women's doubles Grand Slam in 1998. She held the world No. 1 singles ranking for 209 weeks and the doubles No. 1 for 90 weeks, simultaneously holding both for 29 weeks. Before ligament injuries forced her to withdraw in early 2003 at age 22, she had won 40 singles and 36 doubles titles and was the highest-paid female athlete for five consecutive years (1997–2001).

After surgeries and recovery, Hingis returned in 2006, reaching world No. 6 in singles and winning two Tier I tournaments, earning the Laureus World Sports Award for Comeback of the Year. She retired in November 2007 due to a hip injury. In January 2008, the ITF suspended her for two years after a positive test for a cocaine metabolite in 2007. She returned again in July 2013 to play doubles, winning four major women's doubles titles, six major mixed doubles titles (completing the career Grand Slam in mixed doubles), and an Olympic silver medal in women's doubles at the 2016 Rio Olympics. She retired for the third and final time after the 2017 WTA Finals while ranked doubles world No. 1.

Reader's Guide

Martina Hingis's significance lies in her unprecedented youth and sustained dominance across both singles and doubles. She was the first Swiss player, male or female, to win a major title and attain a world No. 1 ranking. Her 25 major titles—five in singles, 13 in women's doubles, and seven in mixed doubles—place her among the most decorated players in tennis history. She achieved the women's doubles Grand Slam in 1998 and completed the career Grand Slam in mixed doubles during her second comeback. Hingis was ranked by Tennis magazine in 2005 as the eighth-greatest female player of the preceding 40 years and was named one of TIME's '30 Legends of Women's Tennis' in 2011. She was elected into the International Tennis Hall of Fame in 2013 and later appointed its first Global Ambassador. Her career, marked by three retirements and comebacks, illustrates resilience and adaptability, while her record 17 Tier I singles titles underscore her consistency at the highest level of the sport.

Did You Know?

• Hingis was the youngest Grand Slam champion of all time, winning the 1996 Wimbledon women's doubles at age 15 years and 9 months.
• She was the highest-paid female athlete in the world for five consecutive years, 1997 to 2001.
• Hingis completed a women's doubles Grand Slam in 1998, winning all four major titles that year.
• She was elected into the International Tennis Hall of Fame in 2013 and later became its first Global Ambassador.