Ambassador Hingis follows in path of Elvis

Martina Hingis has seemed nervous when making acceptance speeches after prodigious tennis triumphs. She has looked edgy in moments of embarrassment, such as when addressing spectators at the French Open after behaving badly in last year's final, or explaining to interviewers why her mother was not there at Wimbledon to see her lose in the first round.

But rarely has the catch in Hingis's voice been so distinct as it was yesterday here on the first day of the Ericsson Open, when the Swiss world No 1 announced to a group of tennis reporters that she had become the World Health Organisation's goodwill ambassador for polio eradication.

"This is different from answering questions after my matches," she said. "The most important thing is to be healthy, not to win and to be a celebrity."

Hingis intends to use her celebrity to spread the message. After Wimbledon she plans to go to Bogota to campaign for the street children in Colombia on behalf of the United Nations.

As a 19-year-old who has won $12m in official prize money alone, Hingis says she would like to share her feeling of well-being.

"I live a great life. People ask me about my motivation now I have all this money, but I tell them I just try to progress with my tennis. The older I am, the more I understand. When I was 15 or 16, what did I know? Thinking about things other than playing tennis helps you."

Her awareness of life beyond the court began to develop two years ago. "I went to Nepal on my way back from Tokyo and Australia, after my victories. It was incredible to see how people live in some other countries. It made me realise I am very lucky on this planet," she explained.

"When I played in the Fed Cup in Jakarta, I met a doctor friend of my mother who vaccinates children against polio. We wanted to know how to help. It was interesting to know about the people who have been involved [in the campaign] - Elvis Presley, Ronaldo, Bill Gates."

As far as Hingis was concerned yesterday, there was time enough tomorrow to answer the usual questions about whether she deserved still to be the world No 1 after taking a beating from Lindsay Davenport, the No 2, in their recent matches.

"Getting involved in a few other things makes you think when you play tennis," she said. "Maybe you forget later on, but it helps if you can see you may have played a part in a little progress being made, step by step."

Hingis's thoughts about growing up coincided with the 10th anniversary of Jennifer Capriati's professional debut along the east coast of Florida at Boca Raton, only days before her 14th birthday. In Capriati's case, charity had to begin at home.

After advancing to the final in Boca Raton before losing to Gabriela Sabatini, Capriati went on to become the youngest ever in a number of categories, including Grand Slam singles semi-finalist (at the French Open) and Wimbledon singles semi-finalist (after defeating Martina Navratilova), and she won the women's singles gold medal at the 1992 Barcelona Olympic Games before personal problems threatened to ruin her career.

Capriati's rehabilitation has been one of the joys of reporting tennis. She is competing here as the No 13 seed, and it will be encouraging if she is still a contender for the women's singles title when her 24th birthday comes round next Wednesday.

Thinking back to Capriati's debut, 1990 was a remarkable year all round. Navratilova won her record ninth, and concluding, Wimbledon singles title. Andre Agassi, who last year became only the fifth man in history to win the full set of the four Grand Slam singles titles, lost his first two major finals, against Andres Gomez at the French Open and Pete Sampras at the United States Open. Sampras's victory, aged 19, made him the youngest United States men's singles champion.

There was also a tennis revolution in 1990, the Association of Tennis Professionals breaking from the International Tennis Federation and launching the men's ATP Tour.

Venus Williams, the defending champion, pulled out of the Ericsson Open on Wednesday having still not fully recovered from tendinitis. "My wrists are not 100 per cent," she said, "and my main goal right now is getting back to playing tournament tennis again."