When Martina Hingis won Wimbledon, she was 16 years old going into 17. That was the day when there was no age limit on how much players can play on the WTA Tour.
Today, the Swiss Miss says age limit is making it hard for youngsters to get a move on their tennis career.
"I was 16 years and nine months old when I won [Wimbledon]," Hingis said. "We were allowed to play on the Tour at 14. I broke a lot of records and I'm proud of that. I was on the Tour pretty much full-time by 15. Now they have all these restrictions on how many events you can play at a certain age. I don't agree with all that."
The WTA Tour now allow players to play in limited events if they are under 18. Many players bring their school work with them while playing at events throughout the year.
"At 18 you don't learn like you do at 14 or 15," Hingis added. "When you are younger you learn as you grow. I remember losing 6-0, 6-0 to Mary Pierce but so what? I learned from it."
While I like the rules with the WTA requiring the kids to stay in school, the bad side of this rule is most of these kids won't be able to play a lot like Hingis mentioned. For someone like Hingis who won big, she doesn't need a high school diploma or college degree because she has all the money and fame she needs to live forever.
For kids who never make it out of challengers, school is the way to go. So there is a pro and con to everything.