Back at the tournament where she has been crowned both singles and doubles champion, Martina Hingis added another title to her name: Global Ambassador for the International Tennis Hall of Fame.
Hall of Fame CEO Todd Martin revealed the newly-created role on the eve of Wimbledon Sunday evening near the All England Club with Hingis by his side, a sign hanging near her that read: “She was named after a legend, then become one.”
“We see ourselves as the Switzerland of tennis and we seek to collaborate and partner with other organizations in tennis,” Martin said. “We’ve started a global ambassador program and Martina is our first. She represents all that is good in the sport and has a real appreciation for it.”
Hingis, a 2013 inductee to the Hall of Fame, is also the only member of the tennis organisation to still be actively playing. She’s competing in the women’s doubles draw this year as a part of the top-seeded team alongside Sania Mirza.
The Hall of Fame, based in the US in Newport, Rhode Island, has re-opened its renovated museum this spring with 10,000 square feet of exhibitor space backed by $3 million of funding.
Martin, a two-time Grand Slam finalist in his playing career, stressed the international part of the organisation’s name, saying Hingis was perfectly positioned to take on the role.
Wherever I travel I find tennis courts. It's about creating opportunities
“Right away the answer was ‘yes,’” Hingis, 34, said. “It’s about giving back to the youth of the game, to the people. I can be a little part of that when I travel to the US, Australia, Asia… wherever.”
Hingis will make her first appearance in the role at the Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony, set for July 18 in Newport.
“The role will be one of many purposes,” Martin continued. “Ambassadorial roles in the past have been on one person, but that’s impossible to do. Our hope is that (Martina) is the first of ideally several (ambassadors) and that we can identify other ways that we can serve the sport.”
“Wherever I travel you find tennis courts,” Hingis said. “It’s about creating opportunities.”
Hingis has soared back into the global tennis spotlight in the last three years with a second career of sorts on the doubles court. She’s won 44 doubles crowns to date, including three this year alongside Mirza, the two women becoming the top-ranked team on the WTA. (Mirza has sole possession of the No. 1 ranking, though she and Hingis together are the top team.)
With her re-immersion into competition on the doubles circuit, Hingis is back on the WTA nearly full time, lending towards the more global scope of her role with the Hall of Fame.
“Martina’s role is going to be one of many facets. One is to do some appearances, two is to be a spokesperson for us,” said Martin. “Stan Smith has been our president and before him Tony Trabert, but we’ve always had our ambassadorial role on one person. That’s just impossible to serve the globe.”
But Hingis’ first stop? An attempt to win a first Wimbledon doubles title since 1998. And it comes 20 years after she made her All England Club debut in 1995.
“I was a little chubby in the cheeks back then,” Hingis said, laughing. “But I wouldn’t be out there if I didn’t still love it. It’s all part of the journey.”
