Toray Pan Pacific Tennis

Beauty and brawn are on tap for Japan’s premier tournament

Andrew McGovern

In the past nine years, only three players have won the Toray Pan Pacific tennis tournament. In fact, last year’s winner, Maria Sharapova, broke a run of eight years when the title was shared by just two: Martina Hingis and Lindsay Davenport. With Sharapova in an ongoing love affair with Japan—the long‑legged lass from Siberia even had her own solo tour here in December—it would be no surprise if she also put a stranglehold on the tournament.

At times, Sharapova (left) appears to be more rock star than athlete. Of course, the same was said of the person that she doesn’t resemble—Anna Kournikova. Kournikova, still only 24, has always been portrayed as paparazzi fodder and ridiculed as a tennis player solely because she’s stunningly beautiful. Sharapova, by comparison, is merely very good looking. But more importantly, Sharapova has a record that says she’s a supreme player, which Kournikova, plagued by injuries (not a lack of talent), could never quite claim.

Hingis, on the other hand, could. The Czech‑born Swiss star, now 25, won five Grand Slam titles between 1997 and 1999 and was the dominant player of the time. She was a fabulous athlete, a great tactician and thinker, and it was a tragedy that injury cut her career short.

Or did it? Hingis came out of retirement for a trial tournament in Thailand last February, and although she lost in the first round in three sets, it was obviously enough to turn off the pause button on her career. Now she’s coming back. Hingis was scheduled to appear in the Mondial Hardcourts tournament on the Gold Coast ahead of the Australian Open earlier this month, and she is confirmed to return to Tokyo. There’s little doubt that she’s been training vigorously, so she should be physically fit. And since the Williams sisters heralded a new standard in brute force in women’s tennis, those players who, like Hingis, relied on refinement found themselves under pressure.

Perhaps it wasn’t coincidence that Hingis and Kournikova suffered career‑threatening injuries, but strength has dominated on the women’s tour recently. The Williams sisters have won 12 Grand Slams between them, and tough cookies like Davenport, Mary Pierce and Amelie Mauresmo have been the big guns on the tour recently. But it’s not all grunt and muscle. The ball player can still win matches, so Hingis is in with a chance, and Kournikova only needs to get fit to be competitive.

Leading the way, though, is Sharapova, who combines elements of both power and style. She also has that one other crucial element to being a major player: competitiveness. The Russian may be a cute 18‑year‑old, but put her on a court and give her an opponent and she turns into a war machine. For the Russian, being 0‑5 in the final set doesn’t mean she hasn’t lost yet; it means she can still win. It’s a great lesson for all athletes and one that the pampered superstars of world sports sometimes need to remember.

The Toray Pan Pacific takes place Jan 31-Feb 5 at Tokyo Metropolitan Gymnasium. See sports listings for details.

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