She may be a little older than when she was at the top of her profession, but the desire for Grand Slam titles does not seem to have been diminished in former women's singles world number one Martina Hingis. At 34 years of age, she is just one year older than her Swiss compatriot Roger Federer and still possesses the talent to compete at the top level (she no longer competes in singles' tournaments), especially in the slightly less rigorous world of doubles where the load can be shared. She demonstrated that in Melbourne, by claiming the mixed-doubles title with her partner Leander Paes of India, a renowned exponent of the skills and angles required to succeed in what is commonly a specialist discipline in Tennis these days.
It was the first Grand Slam that the she had won since coming out of retirement in July 2013 and indeed her last Slam title was in the same event in Australia back in 2006. The pair repeated that feat today by defeating France's Kristina Mladenovic and Daniel Nestor of Canada 6-4 6-3.
Hingis was clearly delighted when interviewed afterwards, stating that: "It's more than I could ever dream of."
Her 41-year-old partner for the event, Paes has already made a tidy career out of doubles' events, having failed to make significant progress in the singles (his highest ranking was number 73 back in 1998). He has excelled in doubles in the past, having won titles at all of the Slams and was ranked number one in 1999.
With a remarkable 15 Grand Slam titles across men's and mixed-doubles during his career, his record stands up with the best of all-time.
Hingis is also one of the new breed of female coaches on the tennis' scene these days, having linked up with both Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova and the German former Wimbledon finalist, Sabine Lisicki.
Hingis already had fond memories of the Australian Open, having previously triumphed three years in succession in the singles and doubles between 1997 and 1999. She also took the women's doubles' title in 2002, in addition to that mixed-doubles' title in 2006.
Her singles' record is indeed impressive, as the 'Swiss Miss' as she was affectionately nicknamed at her prime, spent a total of 209 weeks as world number one and took five Grand Slam singles' titles.
