By Etienne Stekelenburg
February 2 2005

Swiss Martina Hingis concluded that a comeback to the tour was not an option after she lost her first round match, German Marlene Weingärtner won 1-6, 6-2,6-2. Hingis, who retired at 22 with a footinjury, will play exhibition matches starting in Antwerp at the Proximus Diamond Games on February 13. There were speculations that Hingis was using the Volvo Women’s Open tournament in Pattaya, Thailand as a tryout before entering other WTA tournaments. The former No.1 of the world made clear that this was not the case, she is not returning to the tour as a pro player.

"I've never had plans further than this step. Maybe I'll play some exhibitions," the Swiss said. "That's my plan at the moment. At this point I have no plans to play any more tournaments.

"After winning the first set 6-1 Hingis looked like she was cruising into the second round. Both her physical condition and her service let her down to win the match. Marlene Weingärtner came back to win the second and third set 6-2.

After her attempt to return to competitive tennis she will go back to exhibtion tennis. "I planned to play some exhibitions, then I was offered the chance to play in Pattaya. I had played doubles in Zaragoza (Spain) in late November and felt OK. And now I'm very happy to be in Thailand and play an event," Hingis said.

She is also in Thailand for charity reasons, Hingis’ manager Mario Widmar explained that a part of the prizemoney would go to the Father Ray Foundation. The foundation runs an orphanage, three schools and projects for street kids in Pattaya.

Widmar also explained that Hingis’ training schedule was not sufficient enough for competitive tennis. "She has not trained professionally enough to trust her feet. She would have to do a lot more. For the past few weeks, she has practised every day a little, one hour or two. But she has done almost no physical training. She's playing for charity."

"I might play exhibitions," Hingis said. "My life has been very good over the past couple of years and I feel comfortable with it. The foot is still all right now," she said. "But we will see tomorrow. I'm 24 now. It's hard for me physically. I'm not 18 years old anymore."

Martina Hingis' next stop will be the Proximus Diamond Games in Antwerp, Belgium where she plays Aranxta Sanchez Vicario in an exhibition match on February 13.