The Ego Has Landed

Thank heaven for little girls – as Maurice Chevalier sang in Gigi – especially those with an attitude. Tennis’ new baby brigade is bold, brash and beautiful. Sugar and spice and everything nice, they’re not. Their credo: Why let your racket do all the talking, when a tart tongue can deliver much more delicious devastation. 

Cheeky Martina Hingis, the Can’t-Miss Swiss, is No. 1 in the rankings but not among some of her peers, who resent her arrogance and narcissism. When asked what becoming the youngest winner of a Grand Slam tournament – the Australian Open, meant to her, the 16-year-old Hingis replied, “It’s just another record for me. I mean, I have so many records already.” When Hingis was compared with golf’s new superstar, she shot back, “I think I’m even better than Tiger Woods.” 

Cocksure American Venus Starr Williams {see Publisher Letter, page 2}, the surprise U.S. Open finalist, insists she’ll dethrone Hingis and then face her toughest competition from her super-athletic sister Serena. She even crows, “I could go beyond No. 1 because there are times when an athlete is just ahead of the rest of the league. That could be me. It’s like Michael Jordan and the rest of the players in the NBA. He was a step ahead of everyone else. With the way I play and my height and aggressiveness and courage and no fear, I could change the game.”