Hingis talent wasted, says Navratilova

Martina Navratilova, the winner of more singles titles than any player in history, believes tennis is still mistreating its vulnerable young females. Her concern resurfaced yesterday in the wake of the retirement of the player who was named after her, Martina Hingis.

Navratilova believes the lessons of past disasters with Andrea Jaeger and Tracy Austin have not been learnt, and that Hingis is another whose career and well-being have suffered because of over-ambition at an early age.

"We are putting too much stress on the body before it is formed," Navratilova asserted. "The body is not fully formed at the age of 16 - it's too much. We have seen it before. Jaeger had a bad shoulder and Austin had a bad back. If I had a kid I would hold her back," she added. "Why push it - why not wait?"

Navratilova's remarks will go down like a lead balloon with the Women's Tennis Association, and with Hingis's mother-mentor Melanie Molitor. Both said they were trying to learn from past mistakes by limiting the number of tournaments played and maintaining Hingis's education.

The WTA has strict eligibility rules that forbid 16-year-olds playing more than 10 events a year. But few know what happens in training. The facts sound persuasive - Hingis had foot problems before she retired this month at the age of 22.

Earlier Navratilova reached her fourth final this year, at the age of 46, when she and the teenaged Russian Svetlana Kuznetsova recovered from a set and 1-3 down against Maria Vento-Kabchi of Venezuela and Angelique Widjaja of Indonesia to win 4-6, 7-5, 7-5.

Monica Seles reached her 85th final when the defending champion Amelie Mauresmo, who has just recovered from a knee injury, retired in the second set with an injured thigh.

Seles today meets the top-seeed Justine Henin-Hardenne, who won 7-5, 4-6, 6-4 against Jennifer Capriati, ending the American's comeback tournament after an eye operation.