Zielona Gora, Poland: Fifteen-times grand slam champion Martina Hingis made a courageously impressive return to big-time singles tennis in the Fed Cup on Saturday but was eventually outplayed by Agnieszka Radwanska.
Hingis was persuaded to play her first Tour-level singles for nearly eight years because of injuries in the Switzerland team for the World Group play-off encounter against Poland.
The 34-year-old brought back memories of her heyday in a thrilling 48-minute first set before capitulating 6-4, 6-0 to world number nine Radwanska after 76 enjoyable minutes.
Smiling a lot and clearly enjoying the experience of being back in the spotlight against a player with a similarly attractive style, Hingis played some exhilarating tennis early on but her effort eventually took its toll.
Half a step slower in the second set, she could only win 11 points as Radwanska upped her game to give Poland a 1-0 lead in the tie.
What was most eye-catching was the way Hingis fought in the opening set, twice coming back from a break down to level the scores until the pressure exerted by Radwanska finally told.
Hingis, who only plays doubles on tour those days, was making a Fed Cup return for the first time since the 1998 final because she has to play in the competition to qualify for next year’s Olympics.
Meanwhile, Lucie Safarova handed holders the Czech Republic a 1-0 lead over France in the Fed Cup semi-finals after beating Caroline Garcia in three sets in the opening rubber in Ostrava on Saturday.
On the hardcourt of the CEZ Arena in the eastern Czech city of Ostrava, world number 13 Safarova took an hour and 58 minutes to beat 29th-ranked Garcia 4-6, 7-6 (7/1), 6-1.
Safarova and Garcia held serve until the tenth game of set one when an aggressive, well-serving Garcia broke her rival and closed out the set 6-4.
The second set went exactly the same way but the 21-year-old Garcia squandered five match points against Safarova’s serve and the game changed dramatically.
The 28-year-old leftie Safarova took the set in tie-break after sweeping Garcia 7/1 and never looked back to breeze past the stunned French youngster 6-1 in the third set.
