Martina, guest commentating on ESPN November 20, 1999 Martina briefly commentated on ESPN over the weekend, for the ATP Tour World Doubles Championships from Hartford, CT. Besides commentating on the match, Martina was asked a couple of questions by the other commentators, Cliff Drysdale and Luke Jensen, and the following are the details of her replies: Martina was asked to talk about Mark Woodforde, with whom she won the 1993 Wimbledon mixed doubles title. She pointed out that Mark was a very solid player, and always played the right shot at the right time. They showed a brief clip of the 1995 Wimbledon mixed doubles semi-final, where Martina partnered Jonathan Stark against Woodforde and Larisa Neiland. Martina reminisced that Jonathan played so well that fortnight that all she had to do was just show up! Martina said she misses playing tennis, but not everything else that goes with it! Once you're on the court, it's a lot of fun, Martina noted, and that's what she misses most about the game. These days, Martina does other sports as well such as snowboarding, hockey, golf and basketball. Tennis, she mainly plays before she participates in events. Speaking on the current state of women tennis, Martina pointed out that there are a whole lot more women competing at the top. She said she enjoys watching the Williams sisters blossom and learn more about the game. They are a lot of fun to watch. Luke Jensen asked Martina if she could predict which one of the current top 4 women - Martina Hingis, Lindsay Davenport, Venus Williams, Serena Williams - would be ranked #1 at the end of the year 2000. Martina first said she would be very surprised if Hingis would remain at #1 by then. Davenport is coming along really well, but Martina feels if she had to make one pick, she'd pick Venus Williams. She also felt Venus would be better than her sister, Serena. Martina acknowledged that Venus would have to improve her serve, but thinks that it can be easily fixed. When asked about tips for doubles, Martina felt that you should always play as a team, and stay laterally on court and not to leave any holes in the defence. Looking back, Martina said that she used to always try the glamour shots and go for the angles, in her doubles matches with Pam Shriver! Martina also feels that the top mens players should play more doubles. In the case of Pete Sampras, Martina thinks it would help his first volleys and to be more creative, and for Andre Agassi, it would help his serve and volley and transition game. Martina herself said that she always has a blast playing doubles, and noted with some disappointment that not too many of the top ranked men play a lot of doubles, with the exception of Yevgeny Kafelnikov and Patrick Rafter. She was then asked by Luke Jensen, how she would play Steffi Graf if both were playing at their best. Martina said she obviously would attack Graf's backhand. She felt her game stacked up well against Steffi's, while the opposite was true against Monica Seles and Chris Evert. As sporting as ever, Martina praised Steffi as being a great athlete and a lot of fun to watch. How would Martina play against the Williams sisters? Martina felt the best option would be to come in! Girls on the tour are not used to hitting many passing shots, noted Martina. She would also attack their second serves a lot, and try to mix things up. Luke Jensen asked Martina the strange question about what you should do if your doubles partner hit you with a racket. Martina quipped, "Hit him back!" Martina is in favour of the no-let serve. She things a change of the rules is due to keep up with the times and speed up the game and make it more exciting. Martina pointed out that this rule is already being adopted in college tennis. When asked who she would pick as the greatest player of all-time, Martina chose her tennis idol, Rod Laver, and pointed out to the number of years Laver missed at competing at the Grand Slam events, when they were not open to professionals. They showed a clip of match point from the 1990 Wimbledon final between Martina and Zina. Martina said she wished Zina could have won Wimbledon once, she was a great player and a great person. Perhaps, Martina pondered, she wishes Zina had beaten her in 1990, and Martina had beaten Conchita in 1994! Well, one thing's for sure, we fans would much rather Martina have won both! Finally, Cliff asked Martina if she was ready for their mixed doubles match the next day. Martina told him to not worry. If Cliff takes the deuce court, and Martina the ad court, they'd be just fine. And as it turns out, Martina and Cliff won the mixed, so kudos to Martina for being right on! All in all, it was great to hear Martina again. She is always so open and articulate, and hearing her again was simply refreshing. Thanks, Martina!