- Weight : 130 lbs.
- Plays : Right-handed (two-handed backhand)
- Residence: Trubbach, Switzerland
- Her parents named her after women's tennis great Martina Navratilova. Five of her seven 1999 singles titles came at Grand Slam or Tier I events; tied for most titles in 1999; reached the finals at 13 of the 20 tournaments she played in 1999, including three Grand Slam finals.
- Favorite movies: MISS SAIGON and LION KING
- Favorite designers: Gucci, D&G, DKNY
- Began skiing and playing tennis at age 2; entered tournaments at 4.
- Coached by mother, Melanie Molitor.
- Other favorite sports: skiing, soccer, basketball, swimming and horseback riding (horses' names are Montana, Sorrenta and Velvet)
- First female athlete to be on the cover of the American men's magazine GQ in June 1998.
- Favorite cities: Paris and New York for the shopping
- Most Memorable Experiences: winning her first WTA TOUR title in Filderstadt 1996; winning her first singles Grand Slam (Australian Open 1997); successfully defending her first Grand Slam (Australian Open 1998); playing Steffi Graf in the 1999 French Open final; defeating Venus Williams in the 1999 U.S. Open semifinals (her best win so far, she says)
- Superstition: Not to walk on the tennis court lines
- Immortalized in wax at the famous Madame Tussaud's Wax Museum in London.
- Invited to the Academy Awards by famous Swiss director, Arthur Cohn (Central Station)
- At age 12, she became youngest-ever Grand Slam junior titlist at 1993 Roland Garros, replacing prior record-holder Jennifer Capriati; named 1994 International Tennis Federation Junior Girls Singles Champion; won 1994 Wimbledon and Roland Garros junior singles titles (becoming youngest Wimbledon junior champion at 13 years, 276 days) and Roland Garros junior doubles; was a finalist at 1994 U.S. Open juniors.
- Finished 1999 with 71 match wins, leading the tour, and became the first woman player to earn more than $3 million in prize money for three straight years
- Ended 1999 tied with Lindsay Davenport for 16th place on the Open Era titles list with 26.
- At the 1999 Australian Open, became the only player in history to win the same Grand Slam tournament in singles and doubles three consecutive years with three different doubles partners; won the 1999 doubles title with first-time partner Anna Kournikova and recorded her fifth straight Grand Slam doubles title; the singles title was her fifth Grand Slam title
- Ended 1998 by defeating No. 1 Lindsay Davenport to win the Chase Championships for the first time, becoming the only player to win two major tournaments in 1998 (won Australian Open); ended a six-month title drought.
- Reached the 1999 French Open final without dropping a set and came within three points of the title, the only Grand Slam singles title she hasn't won, before falling to Steffi Graf; also reached the doubles final, her sixth consecutive Grand Slam doubles final
- Reached her third Grand Slam final of 1999 at the U.S. Open with a third-set rally over No. 3 Venus Williams in the semifinals before falling to Williams' sister, Serena, in the final, where she saved two match points at 5-3 in the second set and rallied to force a tie-break before losing
- Won second straight title of 1999 in Tokyo, reclaiming the world No. 1 ranking by defeating No. 3 Jana Novotna in the semifinals; title included consecutive wins over Sugiyama, Graf, Novotna and Coetzer
- With Jana Novotna, won the 1999 Lipton doubles title over Mary Joe Fernandez and Monica Seles 0-6, 6-4, 7-6 after saving two championship points against them.
- In winning 1999 Hilton Head over 17-year-old Anna Kournikova, they were the youngest players to face off in the final of the tournament that began in 1973, with a combined age of 36 years, five months.
- Defeated Julie Halard-Decugis 6-0,6-1 in 42 minutes to win 1999 German Open, extending her 1999 clay court record to 13-1 and her 1999 finals record to a perfect 4-0.
- After a four-week layoff from the Tour following 1999 Wimbledon, Hingis returned in San Diego and won her first title in nearly three months and reclaimed the world No. 1 ranking.
- In August 1999, Hingis defeated No. 10 Arantxa Sanchez-Vicario, No. 6 Mary Pierce and stopped four-time defending champion and world No. 5 Monica Seles to claim her first Canadian Open, ending Seles' 24-match winning streak at the event; win over Pierce avenged her 6-0, 6-0 loss to Pierce there in 1995, and win over Seles avenged a loss in the 1998 semifinals.
- Became the youngest player ever to cross the $10 million mark in career prize money at 18 years, 11 months at the 1999 Canadian Open, and the sixth player to achieve the feat.
- Won at least one title (singles or doubles) in seven straight Grand Slam tournaments from 1997 Wimbledon through 1999 Australian Open.
- Reached at least the semifinals at 11 straight Grand Slam tournaments from the 1996 U.S. Open through 1999 Roland Garros.
- Earned over $3 million for the second straight year and lead the tour in prize money in 1998.
- Won 19 of her first 21 matches in 1998.
- Reign at No. 1 ended after 80 weeks on October 11, 1998 when she lost in the quarterfinals of Filderstadt to Dominique Van Roost.
- Became the youngest player to successfully defend a Grand Slam title in the Open Era when she won the 1998 Australian Open at 17 years, four months and one day, her fourth Grand Slam singles title (second-youngest in tennis history to defend a Grand Slam title, going back to Lottie Dod's defense of Wimbledon in 1888); also successfully defended her doubles title there with first-time partner Mirjana Lucic - entered as a wildcard team, they defeated the Nos. 1, 2, 8 and 9 seeds en route to the title.
- During the 1998 Australian Open, she became the youngest player to earn $5 million in career prize money at 17 years, four months; crossed the $8 million mark at the 1998 Chase Championships, youngest to do so at 18 years, 1 month; At 16 years, one month, 10 days, became the youngest tennis player ever, man or woman, to earn $1 million in prize money; by winning the title at 1997 Lipton, topped $1 million in prize money for the year by March 30, faster than any woman player ever.
- Reached the final of the 1998 US Open by rallying from two breaks down in the third set against Jana Novotna in the semifinals; lost in the final to second seed Lindsay Davenport
- In 1998, she became the fourth woman in tennis history to win the doubles Grand Slam, joining Maria Bueno (1960), Martina Navratilova (1984) and Pam Shriver (1984); won the Australian Open with Mirjana Lucic, and won Roland Garros, Wimbledon and the US Open with Jana Novotna.
- Was named the Chase Monthly Champion for January and May 1998, and Chase Manhattan Bank donated $1,000 in her name to the World Health Organization's immunization program each month.
- At 1998 Pan Pacific, she avenged her loss to Iva Majoli in the 1997 French Open final, the only Grand Slam title she failed to win that year, with a 6-0, 6-2 semifinal victory; at the 1998 German Open, defeated Majoli in their first meeting on clay since the '97 French Open 6-1, 6-2.
- Earned her second title of 1998 at Indian Wells including wins over Conchita Martinez, Venus Williams and Lindsay Davenport.
- Picked up her first European clay court singles title at 1998 Hamburg and a week later won her second at the Italian Open with wins over Venus Williams, Mirjana Lucic, Anna Kournikova and Irina Spirlea.
- With her win over No. 3 Jana Novotna in the final of 1998 Hamburg, she has defeated Novotna on all four surfaces: clay, grass, carpet and hard.
- Youngest player in the Open era to win 18 singles titles at 17 years, seven months, 10 days (12 days younger than Tracy Austin).
- In June 1998, she became the third woman in Open history to hold the No. 1 ranking in singles and doubles simultaneously (joining Navratilova and Sanchez Vicario).
- Became the youngest player in the Open Era (1968-present) to win the singles title at Wimbledon when she won in 1997 at age 16 years, nine months and five days; was the first Swiss woman ever to win Wimbledon.
- By winning the 1997 U.S. Open, she became second-youngest U.S. Championships winner at 16 years, 11 months and eight days (Tracy Austin was 16 years, nine months in 1979), defeating unseeded Venus Williams in the final; the final against 17-year-old Williams was the youngest Grand Slam final in the Open era; became one of six players (and one of three teens) to win three or more Grand Slam singles titles in a calendar year in the Open era (Graf, Court, Navratilova, King and Seles); became the first woman to earn over $3 million in prize money in one season with the victory.
- On March 31, 1997, she became the youngest No. 1-ranked player (since the Tour's computer rankings began in 1975) at age 16 years, 6 months and one day; was the seventh player to join that elite group (Evert, Navratilova, Austin, Graf, Seles and Sanchez Vicario).
- Won first career Grand Slam singles title at the 1997 Australian Open, becoming the youngest player in the open era (beginning in 1968) and in the 20th century to win a Grand Slam singles title at 16 years, 3 months, 26 days of age (youngest was Charlotte Lottie Dod who won the 1887 Wimbledon title at 15 years, 10 months old); also first Swiss woman to win a Grand Slam singles title; also won doubles title, becoming the first woman to win both titles at the Australian Open since Martina Navratilova in 1985
- Won 37 straight matches to start the 1997 season, the second-best start in the open era (behind Graf's 45 in 1987); won 75 matches total in 1997, most on the tour for the year.
- By winning the 1997 Open Gaz de France, she became the first woman to win consecutive tournaments she's played on three continents: Australia (Sydney and Australian Open), Asia (Tokyo-Pan Pacific Open), and Europe (Paris-Open Gaz de France); last player to accomplish the feat was Boris Becker in 1986 .
- One of only 18 players since 1971 who have won five or more tournaments in a single year.
- Reached the final of the 1996 season-ending Chase Championships, becoming the second-youngest Championships finalist at 16 years, one month and 24 days (Andrea Jaeger was 15 in 1981); lost to No. 1 Steffi Graf in five sets; also qualified for the Championships in 1997 and '98, winning in '98.
- Became youngest ever to win an adult title at Wimbledon by capturing the 1996 doubles title with Helena Sukova at 15 years, 282 days old, breaking the record set in 1887 by Charlotte Lottie Dod who won the singles title when she was 15 years, 285 days old.
- Ranked No. 10, won first WTA TOUR singles title at 1996 Filderstadt, defeating three Top 10 players - No. 2 Arantxa Sanchez Vicario, No. 5 Anke Huber and No. 6 Lindsay Davenport - for the title and the champion's Porsche; defended title in 1997 as the world's No. 1 player, winning her second Porsche before having a driver's license.
- Moved into the world's Top 10 at No. 10 in the WTA TOUR singles rankings for first time on October 7, 1996, just one week after her 16th birthday, becoming the fifth-youngest player in the Open Era to crack the Top 10 in the world rankings after Jennifer Capriati (1990- 14 years, 235 days), Tracy Austin (1978- 15 years), Andrea Jaeger (1980- 15 years) and Monica Seles (15 years, nine months).
- In 1995, she became youngest female player in Open Era to win a singles match at the Australian Open at 14 years, four months.
- Named the 1998 WTA TOUR Doubles Team of the Year with Jana Novotna; Selected as the 1997 Player of the Year by the WTA TOUR, the International Tennis Federation and Tennis Magazine; named The Associated Press Female Athlete of the Year for 1997; named the 1996 WTA TOUR Most Improved Player; recipient of 1995 WTA TOUR Most Impressive Newcomer Award; named the 1995 TENNIS Magazine Female Rookie of the Year; her coach and mother, Melanie Molitor, was named the 1997 Coach of the Year by the Swiss Sports Federation, becoming the first woman to win the award, and also by Tennis Magazine.
Quotes- "I'm glad you're doing this story on us and not on the WNBA. We're so much prettier than all the other women in sports."
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