By Etienne Stekelenburg
December 12 2002

The 22 –years old former No.1 Martina Hingis decided not to play in Melbourne at the Australian Open. After practice with fellow countrywoman Patty Schnyder and Russian hard hitter Elena Bovina the Hingis team decided is yet too early to make the comeback at a grand slam. The Australian Open organisation was very pleased and surprised when Martina Hingis submitted an entry for playing the first Grand Slam of the year that she won three times. ‘She must have desperately wanted to play in Australia’ is the message Australian Open chief executive Paul McNamee must have picked up from her entry.

Martina Hingis’ amazing record at Australian soil must have led to the decision to try and play the Grand Slam. It looked like she and her team changed her mind after she practised with Elena Bovina who flew from the Collins Cup tournament in Dublin to Zurich. Hingis also had a practise session with fellow Swiss Patty Schnyder to see where she stands in the field of players at the moment.

The session against the tall hard-hitting Elena Bovina must have shown that Martina was just not ready yet to defeat the American hard hitters. Hingis had stated in earlier interviews that she only enters a tournament when she is able to reach the finals.

The condition of her ankle limited her ability to move around the court and will let her win against players in the first and second round maybe, that is not enough for a competitor like Martina Hingis. She needs her speed to make up against hard-hitting rivals.

The organisation of the Pan Pacific tournament in Tokyo is still hoping to get Martina Hingis in their field of players. "At this stage Hingis is still listed among the official entrants and still scheduled to play," a tournament official told Reuters Wednesday.

The Pan Pacific begins 28 January just three days after the finals in Melbourne have taken place. That might be just enough time for Hingis to get back on track and according to the Pan Pacific Officials other players who withdrew from the Australian Open had played Pan Pacific after all.