(CNN) -- Martina Hingis is back -- but the five-time
grand slam winner says she has no plans to take on the world's best any
time soon.
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The 32-year-old ended her
six-year absence from competitive WTA action by playing doubles
alongside Slovakia's Daniela Hantuchova at the Southern California Open
Wednesday.
Hingis, who retired for
the second time in 2007, spent 209 weeks as the world's top-ranked
player after bursting onto the scene as a teenager.
The Swiss ace has already
confirmed that she will play alongside Hantuchova at the U.S. Open and
enjoyed a winning start following a 6-1 6-1 victory over Germany's Julia
Goerges and Croatian Darija Jurak.
But Hingis ruled out any thoughts of a comeback on the singles tour -- insisting that it's doubles or nothing.
"Not singles, no," she told reporters after being asked if she wanted to return to the women's circuit.
"It's a completely
different world. Even World Team Tennis (WTT) now, it's brutal, it's
only one set but still the next day you wake up, and you have to put so
much more effort into it."
Hingis has spent the
past few months playing World Team Tennis on a regular basis and helped
the Washington Kastles win the WTT league title in July.
But her return to WTA action has given her a new lease of life and an extra buzz.
"It was awesome," Hingis told the WTA official website.
"It took Daniela a lot
of courage and inspiration to kind of dig me out of the grave, but I'm
really happy to have a partner like her, it makes it so much easier. I
was nervous going into the match, but she was really solid out there,
and that gave me so much more confidence.
"After the first set it was pure pleasure."
Hingis first emerged as a
star in the making at the age of 15 when she partnered Helena Sukova to
win a grand slam doubles crown.
The following year she
became the youngest ever singles winner at the age of 16 years and three
months at the Australian Open before becoming the youngest woman to
become the World No.1.
Hingis, who also won
nine grand slam doubles titles, was forced to retire at the age of 22 in
2003 following a struggle with injury problems.
She returned to action
in 2005 but her comeback was cut short in 2007 when it was divulged that
she had tested positive for a metabolite of cocaine after her third
round loss at Wimbledon six years ago.
Hingis maintained her innocence, but was banned for two years by the International Tennis Federation.
Fast forward to the present day and Hingis is more philosophical about her tennis having spent years in the wilderness.
"When you're 17 everything seems so easy, but now I'm almost twice the age," she added.
"I wouldn't want to come out and play one or two matches and then lose third round, that's not my type of personality.
"I feel pretty good. We'll see how it goes this summer.
"Obviously I wouldn't put myself in this position if I didn't feel like I could compete at this level."


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