It was nearly another Roland Garros-without-a-trophy by for Martina Hingis, who was severely tested by Romanian Ruxandra Dragomir before moving into the quarter finals with a 6-3 0-6 6-1 victory. Nevertheless, while in the end Hingis captured the fourth round match, it was another prime example of a few of the flaws in the top seed's game.
Problem number one is that Hingis doesn't 'do' mornings. The Swiss Miss has always said she prefers not to play early matches, but would much rather head to the courts in the afternoon. Today was another situation where, although she pulled out the first set, appeared to still be in bed sleeping during a second-set drubbing.
She particularly prefers not to do mornings when the weather is cold and damp, and not particularly the picture of a beautiful Parisian spring day.
"Three times already at this tournament," said Hingis, emphasizing the point that she's been the first match up this year more times than she would prefer.
"I'm like, not going to go out there if they put me first on again, unless it's sunny. I'm going to play in pants next time. I'm like, freezing out there...my back gets tight. You can't move the same way or you're scared to make some quick moves because you might get hurt."
Problem number two is that Hingis doesn't endear herself to the public, certainly not the French public, who watched her throw an immature tantrum or two when she was losing to Steffi Graf during last year's final. The fans here were definitely more in Dragomir's corner and Hingis's frequent questioning of calls today certainly didn't enable the spectators to warm to the now Florida-based Swiss.
A perfect example of her unpopularity with the Parisian public was when Hingis questioned a point early in the third set. Dragomir hit a lob that appeared to land on the baseline, but the point was eventually replayed after the typical raised-eyebrow by Hingis. In the end, the point went Dragomir's way anyway, an exquisite spinning drop shot allowing the Romanian to go ahead 30-15 in the first game of the third set.
The crowd didn't hesitate to let Hingis know exactly how irritating they believed her tactics to be at that early juncture in the third set. Interestingly, TV commentator and former Romanian tennis star, Virginia Ruzici, made the suggestion that Hingis might reverse her appeal with the fans if, instead of always questioning the validity of calls, she would just once give her opponent a point in good faith.
Problem number three is that although Hingis is the No1 player in the world and has been a dominating force the past few years, she often tends in matches to take what the Australians commonly refer to as a 'walkabout'.
It seems almost inexcusable for a player of Hingis's capabilities to lose focus as dramatically as she does on occasion in matches. Hingis definitely went off in Sunday's match, losing seven games in a row before holding serve in the second game of the third set and recapturing control of the match.
"I wasn't nervous about losing the second set six-love because I knew I could just get that set over with," Hingis said. "I was down three-love, four-love, it's like no way at this tournament you're going to come back. It's very hard. You don't have to (win the set) because you know there's another set coming up."
If Dragomir didn't provide Hingis with an opening to come back into the match early in the third set, the Swiss would have been heading away from Roland Garros without a chance at the title. When serving in the third game of the third set, Dragomir made a few crucial errors, eventually losing her serve at 30-40 when Hingis scored with a screeching backhand crosscourt shot.
The Romanian is a clever and intelligent player with an athletic gift that even Hingis admits to admiring.
"She's got great hands," Hingis said of Dragomir. "Even I have to look at her,... I'm like, 'Wow.'"
Dragomir won numerous points in the match by placing unbelievable winning drop shots beyond Hingis's reach. In the end however, the match permanently moved into Hingis's corner when she survived one of Dragomir's drop shots in the third set. Dragomir had two break points on Hingis's serve in the fourth game of the third set. On the second one at 30-40, Hingis smacked a forehand passing shot off of the backhand drop shot to bring the score to deuce.
In the end, what makes Hingis so good is that she inevitably is able to recover from desperate situations. It is that ability that makes her a true champion and that places her in the quarter finals against Chanda Rubin of the U.S.
Rubin set up her second quarter final showing here at Roland Garros - the first came in 1995 - with a 6-4 7-5 victory over Natasha Zvereva.
"You just have to want to win this tournament," Hingis said. "That's why Arantxa (Sanchez-Vicario) was able to win it three times, or Steffi (Graf) so many times, and Monica (Seles), because those are the players who wanted it the most and are in the best physical shape at that time.
"Whoever wants it more is going to win."