By Jim Courier, special to USA TODAY
The big surprise on Day 1 was the upset of No. 1 seed Martina Hingis by Virginia Ruano Pascual of Spain.
It's the second time in 3 years that Hingis has been defeated as the No. 1 seed at The Championships. It's been 2 years since she's won a major title, though she's held on to the No. 1 ranking with plenty of wins at lesser tournaments.
Following the loss, Hingis said she was suffering from tendinitis in her lower back. She also said she was unable to practice much last week. On any other surface but grass, a lack of practice would be less cause for concern, but on a surface that she only sees 1 month a year, it's imperative to practice on this slippery surface as much as possible.
Although back pain is nothing to sniff at, the bigger problem for Hingis is figuring out how to start winning majors again. Everybody knows that Venus Williams was the No. 1 player last year and that Jennifer Capriati holds that distinction right now. Only the WTA Tour computer disagrees, as it rewards yearlong consistency over major titles.
So Hingis must regroup and come up with a game plan that will help her beat the bigger hitters on Tour at the big events. In recent years, rather than play to her natural strengths as an adroit, all-court player, she's getting psyched out by all these power players and unwisely trying to outslug them. That's kind of like Shaq thinking he should shoot three-pointers.
So my advice to Hingis: Get back to your basics. Think about your weapons — mixing paces, spins and timely net rushing — that helped you win big events like Wimbledon and the U.S. Open and make them even better.
You might also want to work on that serve. You'll never make it a big flat one, but you can move it around with a lot more imagination.
And, above all, stay healthy.
Source: http://www.usatoday.com/sports/tennis/01wim/courier/2001-06-26-courier.htm