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 Hingis answers early wake-up call at Wimbledon
Posted: Tuesday June 30, 1998 09:45 PM
LONDON (Reuters) -- Like most teenagers, Martina Hingis hates getting up early. And for the world No. 1, starting her day at the office at 11 o'clock in the morning is quite soon enough. She confessed to sleepwalking through her practice session Tuesday before waking up with a vengeance to dismiss Thailand's Tamarine Tanusugarn, 6-3, 6-2, with clinical efficiency. "Everything was kind of fast in the morning. I was still sleeping in practice," she confessed. "Eleven o'clock is not that early. Most people have to be at work already at eight o'clock." But it is not the best of times to fire on all cylinders for Hingis. The match even produced a "Thai break" in the very first game when Tanusagarn broke her service. Hingis, the big favorite to retain her Wimbledon title, is peaking on grass right on schedule after a shaky start in her first two matches. She glides across the lightning fast surface with grace and authority. Number Two Court, known as Wimbledon's graveyard of champions, held no terrors for her. The smile on the face of the Swiss Miss never fades. She genuinely seems to be enjoying herself. Her mood matched the belated appearance of a sunny day at rain-lashed Wimbledon. "Yes, I feel very good and each time better and better," she said. "I am feeling the ground much better." She was quick to praise her Thai opponent, Asia's last ray of hope in the Wimbledon singles. "She had many great points, so many times down the line." Luck seemed to favor the spunky Thai as the chalk flew up from the lines. "She should go and play in a casino today or something," Hingis said. After her disappointing defeat by Monica Seles in the semifinals of the French Open, Hingis took to the Swiss Alps to recharge her batteries. It clearly worked. "They had some waterfalls there and it was very beautiful weather," she said. But that defeat by Seles is still clearly haunting her. Hingis singled out Seles as the player to beat at Wimbledon. "I think she is playing very well now." But the clouds are now rolling away at just the right time for Hingis with Wimbledon's weather finally matching her sunny disposition Tuesday. "It feels like Australia you know," said Hingis, who won her second successive Australian Open title earlier this year.
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