Foot Fault!

Serena Williams and Martina Hingis renewed their rivalry for the first time in 9 years this week as they faced-off on back to back days at World Team Tennis in New York, with Serena representing the unbeaten Washington Kastles and Martina, the New York Sportimes. Their first meeting, which Serena took 5-3, was not broadcasted live but their second match was, and the score was reversed with Martina taking the match 5-3.

With Martina’s win over Serena, those who didn’t watch the match will undoubtedly call for her return back to the tour. On one hand it’s impossible to read into anything from World Team Tennis - not only does WTT not compare to professional tennis, but Serena put in an abysmal performance, barely bothering to move her feet and routinely dumping the ball straight into the bottom (and no, that’s not hyperbole in the slightest) of the net.

However, what we did see of Martina was quite promising. After storming to 4-1 she began to shank a lot of forehands and struggled to redirect a some of Serena’s big shots, but on the whole she was very consistent, with her inside-out backhand still coming up with a few glorious strokes while her trademark variety was brilliant as ever. I think there’s a misconception that Hingis’ game simply couldn’t handle power players, but her problem wasn’t simply that a lot of players hit the ball harder - it was that those players who did hit the ball hard in her time were the likes of the Williams sisters, Davenport, Pierce, Capriati and many more - some of the most exceptional big hitters the game will most likely ever see. But in the past 12 months, the likes of Wozniacki, Azarenka, Zvonareva and even Radwanska have proven that 2011 is a very different era from the early and even mid-00s, with the more pronounced use of power and risk breeding more inconsistency, and consistency is more than enough to ensure a spot in the top 20 and 10.

Even so, I think Martina made it clear that she was not considering a singles comeback. Mid-way through the match, she missed a backhand down the line and made a loud quip along the lines of; “and this why I’m not coming back”. Then, in the interview she spoke candidly about her heart “not (being) able to handle” more than the one-set layout of world team tennis. But still, after watching her in action during the Women’s doubles, a doubles return remains a must. In the presence of two other doubles legends still active on the tour, she put on a masterful display and was easily the best player on the court. If she doesn’t at least come back to doubles, it will be a huge waste of such great and rare talent.

My favourite moment of the tie had to be in the women’s singles as Martina turned the clock back to 2000, coming up with a trademark dropper-lob-dropper combo. Serena chased the first two down before narrowly missing the third and, unable to stop herself from crashing into the net, she hurdled over it onto Martina’s side of the court before doubling over with laughter. Martina, also laughing, then walked over to Serena and patted her sympathetically on the back. A nice moment between both two former bitter rivals and two great champions.

I don’t think old videos of their feud will ever cease to crack me up.