Hingis arrives amid warm welcome

Former World No 1 Martina Hingis and six other tennis divas arrived here Friday to a rousing welcome for the second edition of the $175,000 WTA Sunfeast Open Tournament beginning Sep 18.

Hingis, the World No 9 'Swiss Miss', who created a sensation by becoming the youngest Wimbledon champion at the age of 15 years and nine months in 1996, flew in to the Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose International Airport accompanied by her mother and personal support staff.

Chaos reigned for sometime at the airport as Hingis was greeted by a posse of jostling photographers and cameramen to capture the image of the tennis icon. She was driven to a hotel where there was a near scuffle between police and the media persons.

Among others who also arrived are: World No 82 Russian Anastassia Rodionova and World No 64 Ukranian Yuliana Fedak. The rest of the brigade included Annie Keothavong, Abaigail Spears, Sabine Lisicki and Alberta Brianti. Spears has got direct entry into the draw of 32 as a wild card.

Enjoying the limelight, Hingis graciously accepted a garland and 'tilak' on her forehead at the hotel.

The Slovakia-born player, who turns 27 on Sep 30, would play only in the singles tournament.

Hingis started 2006 as an unranked player, thanks to her three-year absence. She had a strong start at the year's first Grand Slam reaching the quarterfinals at Flinder's Park, eventually losing to Kim Clijsters.

It was Clijsters again who stopped Hingis in the quarters at the French Open.

If she were hoping to improve her Grand Slam record in 2006 - Wimbledon was a disappointment. Hingis fell to Japan's Ai Sugiyama in the third round.

Her US Open second round loss, capped off what has been an ordinary year in the grand slams giving her an 11 and 4 win-loss record in 2006 in the big four.

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