Martina Hingis had decided to compete in Wimbledon despite a partially healed left hip injury which has bothered her for months. The former world number one hadn’t played since Qatar Telecom German Open in Berlin, where she lost to Patty Schnyder in the third round. So, not playing for such a long time, Hingis became hungry for some on-court action; she was fed up with just watching matches, she wanted to play. After withdrawal from Roland Garros, Hingis couldn’t stand missing another Grand Slam, and despite her injury she decided to take part in Wimbledon.
But after a tough first round match against the British wildcard Naomi Cavaday, where Hingis won in three sets, saving two match points on the way, the 1997 Wimbledon champion started to wonder whether she had made the right decision to take part in Wimbledon 2007. She realized that there was no way she could take the trophy.
However, only after her straight-set defeat in the third round did Hingis realize that she was completely wrong to have entered Wimbledon injured and unprepared. Ninth seed Martina Hingis lost to world No. 77 Laura Granville on the Court Two, the notorious “Graveyard of Champions”.
“I shouldn’t have been playing,” said Hingis. “Probably at the end of the day, it wasn’t the smartest decision. When I first got the injury two months ago, I said I wouldn’t come back until I’m super percent healthy. But then it kind of gets tiring when all you do is watch others. That’s why I didn’t want to miss out on Wimbledon after I missed the French.
“I haven’t been able to run very much. Workouts are just on the bike – things without pounding. I used to run for a couple of hours a day. When you can’t do that, you have cardio work that needs to be done, but I have been able to do it. When I get home, I’ll have a couple more MRI tests to see how it is.”
Then she sighed: “The draw was quite open here. I wish I could have done better.”
Still, Hingis stayed positive: “I definitely see this as a success, having won a couple of rounds and come through the second round after being match points down in the first. I’m happy that I’m getting healthier again. That’s the most important thing.”
“The US Open is a long way ahead. Hopefully until then I can definitely do whatever I need to do for the next four or five weeks until the next tournament,” the Swiss added. (via Wimbledon)
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