Hingis Exits Wimbledon

July 1, 2006
WIMBLEDON, England -- Martina Hingis wiped away a tear as she walked off Centre Court, a match that seemed within her grasp suddenly gone.
Hingis had company Friday. Other unexpected exits were made by 2004 U.S. Open champion Svetlana Kuznetsova, James Blake and David Nalbandian.
"Somehow, at Wimbledon, you're never safe," Hingis said after wasting a 3-0 lead in the final set and losing to Ai Sugiyama of Japan, 7-5, 3-6, 6-4. "When you're out on the grass, it seems like you never know how the next point's going to go."
Half a season into her comeback after three years away because of injuries, Hingis was playing at Wimbledon for the first time since 2001. And she impressed until Friday, dropping a total of seven games in the first two rounds. She looked fatigued as the match went past the 1 1/2 -hour mark, double-faulting twice to get broken to 3-all in the final set, then slipping at the baseline on two points as she lost the next game.
Hingis -- at 25, she's five years younger than Sugiyama -- got more and more rattled as the match slipped away, complaining about line calls and slamming a ball off the court after one miscue, drawing a collective "Oooooh!" from the crowd.