MELBOURNE - Martina Hingis' comeback has only just begun, and already it has yielded something she never achieved in her previous nine years on the professional tennis tour - a mixed doubles title.
The former world No 1 yesterday capped her return to Grand Slam tennis after more than threeyears by combining with Indian Mahesh Bhupathi to win the Australian Open mixed doubles final in Melbourne.
Hingis and Bhupathi, wildcard entrants, beat Canadian Daniel Nestor and Russia's Elena Likhovtseva 6-3 6-3 in just 65 minutes.
While Hingis already had 40 singles titles and 36 women's doubles tournament victories to her credit -- including three singles and four doubles at the Australian Open -- she had never before even reached the final of any mixed doubles tournament.
It capped a great fortnight for the Swiss Miss, who admitted she had already exceeded her expectations by making the quarterfinals in the singles.
She said she had entered the mixed doubles with Bhupathi largely because she feared an early exit in the singles competition might leave her needing to fill in some time.
"I got the email (from Bhupathi inviting her to partner him) and, I'm like right away it will be great because I don't know how long I'm going to last in singles," Hingis said.
"The hopes are a lot better of staying in the event, I knew with Mahesh, having a great partner.
"You don't want to lose first round and be sticking around for the next two weeks doing nothing."
Hingis said she now had great hopes for what she could achieve in the second phase of her career, given her success at Melbourne Park over the past fortnight.
"It would be an underestimation if I didn't," she said.
"I mean, I played well first tournament to be back and making the quarterfinals right away."
Bhupathi and Hingis said they were likely to stay together as a Grand Slam tennis partnership, although Hingis said she was yet to decide how much doubles she would play this year.
