CINCINNATI – Martina Hingis, who earlier this month was inducted into the International Tennis Hall of Fame, will make her Cincinnati debut this summer as a wild card entrant in the doubles field at the Western & Southern Open, which will be held Aug. 10-18 at the Lindner Family Tennis Center in Mason, Ohio.

 

Hingis will be the 75th member of the Hall of Fame to participate in the Western & Southern Open main draw, but the Swiss will be the first player to do so after being enshrined. Overall, 103 members of the International Tennis Hall of Fame have participated in tennis events in Cincinnati. 

 

"I'm looking forward to playing in Cincinnati," Hingis said. "I feel in pretty good shape after the World TeamTennis season and I am eager to get back to playing doubles on the tour."

 

In singles, Hingis claimed five Grand Slam titles, including a three-peat at the Australian Open, while tallying a total of 43 victories. She spent 209 weeks as the No. 1 ranked player it the world. 

 

In doubles, she is just one of four women to have won a calendar year Grand Slam, doing so in 1998 by winning the Australian Open with Mirjana Lucic-Baroni and the remaining three majors with Jana Novotna. 

 

Overall she claimed 37 career doubles titles, including nine at Grand Slam tournaments. She spent 35 weeks as the WTA's No. 1-ranked doubles player. 

 

The 32-year-old Hingis is returning to action this summer for the first time since September 2007. She is playing doubles at Emirates Airline US Open Series events in Carlsbad, Calif., and Toronto before coming to Cincinnati. 

 

Hingis' partner for the Western & Southern Open will be announced at a later date. 

 

The doubles draws will be made on Aug. 10, one day after the singles draws are made. Aug. 10 is also the start of qualifying, and tickets for that opening day session, which is AdvancePierre Foods Kids Day, start as low as $5. 

 

Main draw action beings Sunday, Aug. 11, and continues until the ATP and WTA singles and doubles finals are contested on Aug. 18. For more information or to purchase tickets, visit www.cincytennis.com.