For Martina Hingis, it’s doubles or nothing for her on the WTA Tour

TORONTO - If you're a tennis fan, it's easy to get nostalgic this week walking around the Rexall Centre. Monica Seles, Billie Jean King and Pete Sampras have made appearances on the site of the 2013 Rogers Cup women's tennis tournament. Jim Courier, John McEnroe and Andy Roddick will be in the big smoke on Sunday for a legends event.

Oh yes, and Martina Hingis is in the house.

The Swiss Miss has rejoined the WTA Tour after a six-year absence. Hingis first retired from tennis in 2002 due to an ankle injury and then stepped away from the court again in 2007. While many attempted to coax the winner of nine Grand Slam doubles titles (along with five Grand Slam singles championships) to rejoing the tour, it was Slovakian Daniela Hantuchkova who apparently found the right words and had great timing. Hingis, who'll turn 33 next month, was coaching at the Paris-based Mouratoglou Tennis Academy, when Hantuchkova convinced her to come back.

"Tennis is missing somebody like Martina and her game and the style she plays," Hantuchkova said. "You can see the fans love her everywhere she goes. I just thought it would be a shame to not have her around, and I'm really glad and honoured that she's back."

Their first taste of action was at the Southern California Open last week where they made it to the quarter-finals before losing to the American duo Raquel Kops-Jones and Abigail Spears.

"I always had in the back of my mind that I could still play some doubles at some point," Hingis said, after she teamed with Hantuchkova for a first-round win here Tuesday. "I needed those two years that I was helping at the academy, playing with the young, up and coming players like Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova and helping her. I felt like there was some opening (for me)."

Just prior to returning to competitive tennis, Hingis coached world No. 31 Pavlyuchenkova for two months, culminating in the French Open in May. Getting back on the court with Pavlyuchenkova and other "students" rekindled a passion for the game that was fading six years ago when she took her second hiatus.

"The first two or three years I didn't play that much, the past few years I played a lot more tennis again, I enjoyed it a lot more," Hingis said.

She steadily began to increase the amount of time she spent on conditioning and practicing - with it, her game returned to a suitable competition level. "I started running more, biking - whatever helped tennis. I played twice a day at the academy - enjoying it more and being in better shape - that helps. Playing better again -you feel like 'OK I can hit that shot' and not only thinking 'I used to be able to hit that shot', but you actually can."

There was a small chance that the master could have met the apprentice in the doubles final at the Rogers Cup. However, the 22-year-old Pavlyuchenkova and her Czech partner, Lucie Safarova, were upset by the Canadian pair of Gabriel Dabrowski and Sharon Fichman in the first round.

Hingis is no stranger to the success on the grandest stage in Canadian tennis. She recorded back-to-back singles titles (1999, 2000) as well as two doubles championships (1998, 2000). "I always liked playing at the Rogers Cup," said the soft-spoken Hingis. "Canadians have a tradition and culture in sports and the fans have always been very welcoming and knowledgeable about tennis. I think that's really cool, the fans who come watch - they love the sport."

As time goes by, there are fewer and fewer recognizable faces in each draw for Hingis, but there a couple of people in town this week, aside from her former pupil, with whom she shares some history. Serena Williams, who Hingis defeated in the 2000 final in Toronto, has advanced to the third round in singles, while Seles (who lost to Hingis in the 1999 final at the old National Tennis Centre at York University) took part in an exhibition hit-and-giggles match on Monday night. Hingis, who entered International Tennis Hall of Fame last month, caught the match over dinner and exchanged text messages with Seles - who had won four consecutive titles in Canada from 1995-98 until she was dethroned by Hingis.

Prior to Monday's match, Seles, 39, said she could tell that Hingis was at another level when the two played each other at an event six weeks ago. "It was like 'Wow!'," Seles said. "Obviously she would like to come back."

Seles also spoke about the rigours of singles play and why when she won't take part even at the exhibition level anymore. "I can't speak for others, but in my case, my singles days are finished. When I retired there was a reason. I was retired physically and emotionally."

Like Seles, Hingis is adamant she is done with singles. "If I wanted to, I could have done that in the past and I didn't," Hingis said. "Singles, physically it's so much more competitive, every ball, every game. I'm not 17 anymore."

In doubles, Hingis sees an opening in which she can still shine through. "I think it's like if you go on the court and you want to win and you want to play well, it doesn't matter who is on the other side. I think we have the level of going out there and competing with anybody."

She says she is gaining confidence in each passing match in the early stages of this comeback. Defeating increasingly stronger opponents is certainly a step in the right direction. On Tuesday, Team Hingis/Hantuchkova disposed of Angelique Kerber and Petra Kvitova - top-10 doubles players won the women's tour. Hingis said the first-round victory helped her mentally.

"One is No. 7 and the other No. 8 in the world (and) I can really rally with them from the baseline no problem. I think the last three or four games, that really showed what we have together," she said.

How long she will stay in the doubles game remains to be seen, right now she is just focusing on closing out the season in Cincinnati followed by the U.S. Open. Of utmost importance to Hingis is that she and Hauntuchkova "feel comfortable".

"That's the biggest - the most important thing." Hingis said. "Then we will decide what we will do."