PARIS - For Martina Hingis, life was beautiful just three years ago.
Playing with a rare mixture of grace, grit and guile, Hingis, then 16, captured three of the four Grand Slam titles; became the youngest pro to reach No. 1 in the world and the youngest to earn more than $1 million. Hingis believed that she had the tennis world on a string.
That string, however, unraveled quite a bit in the French Open final last year when she lost to Steffi Graf. She left Roland Garros' Center Court to a chorus of boos and whistles for her temper tantrums and other unsportsmanlike conduct. Later, she sobbed as her mother, Melanie Molitor, guided her to back on court for the trophy presentations.
The 19-year-old top seed returned to the scene of her moment of infamy Monday, a year wiser, she said, and determined to focus on winning the only Grand Slam title that's missing from her trophy room. She took the first step toward achieving her goal, defeating Sabine Appelmans 6-0, 6-4 in the first round. She received polite applause before the match.
''I feel very comfortable here and I never had so many people recognize me,'' Hingis said. ''What happened at the French Open last year is an old story already. Now, I only try to look into the future and it's looking quite good right now. But I learned a lot from last year.''
Former pro Chris Evert predicts a much happier final day for Hingis at this year's French Open.
''Every year, I say the same thing, Hingis is going to win,'' said Evert, who is Hingis' tour-appointed mentor. ''I'm amazed that she hasn't already won the French. With Graf retired and (No. 2) Lindsay Davenport not as comfortable on clay, Martina has got to think that this is as good a shot as she's ever going to get.''
Hingis' popularity dipped even more two weeks after her French Open fiasco when she declared her independence and fired her mother as coach a week before Wimbledon.
With Molitor absent from her courtside seat, 16-year-old Jelena Dokic beat Hingis in the Wimbledon first round. The mother/daughter tandem got back together days after that embarrassing loss.
''My mother is 100% my coach,'' Hingis said. ''She has been there for me since the beginning. I would never be where I am right now without her. Whether it's about guys or just a private thing, I can ask her and she will give me a straight answer. We kind of complete each other.''
A top player for the former Czechoslovakia, Molitor believed her daughter, named after tennis great Martina Navratilova, would become a great champion while Hingis was still in her womb. Hingis began hitting balls when she was 2 years old and was able to hit drop shots and volleys when she was 3.
Hingis' rise to the top began in 1997 while Graf recovered from knee surgery and Monica Seles struggled to regain the form that made her No. 1 in the early '90s.
She captured the first of three consecutive Australian Open titles; won Wimbledon and the U.S. Open but missed a sweep of the four major titles by losing to Iva Majoli in the French Open final. The dominant pro for nearly two years, Hingis held No. 1 for 83 consecutive weeks after reaching the top spot in March 1997.
Hingis' grip on the top spot mainly has been loosened because of the power of her chief challengers, including Davenport and the Williams sisters - Venus and Serena.
To stay competitive against her bigger and stronger foes, Hingis enhanced her training regimen last year after Wimbledon, adding weightlifting, something she earlier had vowed she would never do.
''I'm not as young anymore, my body has changed,'' she said. ''I lift weights three to four times a week. I also do swimming, roller blading and tai chi (a discipline of meditation movements).''
Hingis has shown an unselfish side through her commitment to help less fortunate people throughout the world. Earlier this year, she was appointed World Health Organization (WHO) goodwill ambassador for polio eradication.
''Eradicating polio means parents, who have so much else to worry about, can be sure their children will never be paralyzed by this terrible disease,'' she said.
Though she occasionally dates hockey pro Pavel Kubina, Hingis said there's no room in her life for romance.
''I haven't won a Grand Slam (title) in a while, so it would be nice to win one again,'' she said.