Hingis does not match up

Hingis has five Grand Slams to her name

BBC tennis correspondent Iain Carter fears world number one Martina Hingis cannot be compared to the greats of the women's game until she wins more Grand Slams.

When the tennis rankings were published on Monday, 20-year-old Martina Hingis found herself in her accustomed position at the very top.

Indeed this is the 179th week in which Hingis has headed the standings, which takes her above Monica Seles to fourth in the all time list.

She is placed behind only Steffi Graf (378 weeks), Martina Navratilova (331) and Chris Evert (262).

After completing a second successive victory in the Middle East by beating Nathalie Tauziat to take the title in Dubai, Hingis revealed her delight at returning to the top.

Graf has spent the longest time as world number one

"To me it means a lot as I was the youngest ever (No 1) back in 1997 and have been number one for almost all of that time.

"It is an amazing achievement and when I look back at my career it is one I will be very proud of."

She has every right to feel great satisfaction, and is correct to assert that hers is an amazing achievement.

The problem is that Hingis has become a world number one who is seemingly incapable of winning Grand Slam titles.

Not since the 1999 Australian Open has the Swiss Miss won a major title and sadly for her the true barometer of a player's standing in the game is the number of Slams she wins.

Currently Hingis has five to her credit (three Australian Opens, one Wimbledon and one US Open) and would be quick to point out that her contemporary rivals all have fewer.

Extra competition

Lindsay Davenport has won three (one Australian, one US and one Wimbledon) and Venus Williams has two (US and Wimbledon).

But for Hingis the problem is her deficit in major titles compared with the players above her in the all time list.

For example Evert won at least one Grand Slam per year for 13 years in a row.

Evert, Navratilova, Graf and Seles prospered during times when each was the other's principle rival. Between them they stood head and shoulders above the rest.

Hingis's trouble is that she has too many rivals at the same time, as the Grand Slam results of the last two years prove.

As well as Davenport and Williams, current players Arantxa Sanchez- Vicario, Iva Majoli, Serena Williams, Mary Pierce and Jennifer Capriati have won Slams in the last four years.

French renaissance

But Hingis knows that if she can win the next big one, the French Open, she would complete her set of Slams and thus take a giant step towards cementing her elevated place in the women's game.

Talking of matters French, but changing the subject, just a mention of why the country is riding high in tennis at the moment.

My golfing weekend in Le Touquet was hit hard by snow but they carried on playing tennis beneath specially constructed tents over nearby outdoor courts.

Last week, as we reported, the Lawn Tennis Association showed us the French National tennis centre which will be a model for the British equivalent.

I would suggest that making use of the thousands of courts in our parks by copying the French winter tennis policy would be another beneficial move.

Who knows it might attract a Hingis of the future to the British game.