By Matthew Cronin, SportsWritersDirect

NEW YORK (Aug. 28) -- On opening day at the U.S. Open, top-ranked Martina Hingis skipped about the court in a glorified practice session, wiping out Russian journeywoman Alina Jidkova while attempting to add some extra oomph to her brilliant but sometimes soft game.

Hingis displayed her fatally attractive smile that has earned the pressroom nickname of "Chucky" (the evil doll of horror film fame), then came off the court and giggled about how playing mixed doubles with her boyfriend, men's No. 3 seed Magnus Norman, would be more than their relationships could bear.

But Hingis' smile quickly turned to an introspective frown when questioned as to why she hasn't been able to win a Grand Slam title in her last six attempts.

It is a troubling time for Hingis, the '97 U.S. Open champ who has done little to prove her worth as the tour's queen at the Grand Slams this year. She was crushed by Lindsay Davenport in the final of the Australian Open, laid to waste by Mary Pierce in the French Open final and then was outplayed by Venus Williams in the Wimbledon semifinals.

Frequently lauded as a girl genius, Hingis appears to have lost some of her ability to crunch out equations with the clock ticking, hoping that her peers miss more answers than she does and leaving her own answer sheet blank.

Normally a focused player, Hingis has let go of her wits in key moments this year. She's played with the hope that her elite opponents will choke rather than seize control of the contest. The common wisdom on Hingis is that she is simply being overwhelmed by the power games of taller and stronger opponents.

While that may be true to some degree, the real problem with Martina is that she has played far too conservative and somewhat cowardly in big matches.

"Maybe at Roland Garros, I had my biggest chance," said Hingis. "Venus lost, Serena didn't play. Lindsay lost early because of her back. Mary came out of nowhere and had the victory, which she deserved. I was too nervous."

Venus Williams recently said that Hingis was waiting for her to choke at Wimbledon, which is why she was able to beat her foe in three sets. When told of the comment, Hingis didn't laugh it off or toss out a cliché like, "I was just beaten by a better player on a better day." She begrudgingly agreed.

"I was always waiting for a chance," Hingis said. "In a way, it's true. She didn't let me into the game in the third set. I should have taken my chances earlier, not waiting for her to miss or do something stupid."

Hingis won the Montreal tournament two weeks ago, but only after Serena Williams was forced to retire with an injury in the third set. She lost to Serena in the semis of the Manhattan Beach event the week before Montreal and has had her beloved spotlight seized by Venus Williams, a player she used to own but who now says that "it is impossible for Martina to beat me down. The only way I'm going to lose is to make all the mistakes."

There's a lot of truth to Venus' assertion. At last year's U.S. Open, Hingis made Williams cramp by counterpunching her silly. Now that Williams has improved her forehand and serve, Hingis has few places to angle her softballs.

The always prideful Hingis still likes her place better in the history of the game than her peers but didn't sound terribly convincing when she defended her record.

"I have five Grand Slam titles. Venus and Serena each have one and Lindsay has three. But she's 24. The Williamses, they're my age. I think so far, I've been better than them."

Maybe so. But today she's staring down the pipe at Venus' 19-match winning streak and Serena's 1999 U.S. Open title victory over her. She knows that because of her average height (5-foot-7) she will never own a big serve and because of her lack of upper-body strength she will never possess a huge forehand. What's left for Hingis is to use the tools at her disposal: her terrific anticipation, her wondrous hands at net, her seeing-eye two-handed backhand and her nerves, which never used melt when the heat was on.

More to the point: Hingis needs to be more aggressive and not be afraid of losing, just like she was when she ruled the tennis world in 1997. She can continue to play smart, but she needs to be the first person to raise her hand when the bell sounds.