AFTER being blown off the court by the No 73 in the world, Martina Hingis has a dilemma. Back off fast from the game and return to the splendid lifestyle to which she has become accustomed, or dedicate her life to a fully fledged, no-holds-barred comeback, forget her horse, forget the skiing, her English lessons and her boat navigation licence and spend five or six hours on the court or in the gym every day, bulk up and travel incessantly. And maybe still find that the No 73 in the world gives her a beating.

The No 73 who did the demolition job on the Swiss in a tournament in Thailand on Tuesday night was Marlene Weingartner, of Germany. What she showed was how far behind the former world No 1 has fallen after more than two years away from the game. The official line is that Hingis is happy with her lot away from the circus, but a rare interview suggested otherwise.

When she sits in the commentary booths of the world watching young women do what she used to do, there is a large part of her that wants to be doing it again. “That’s the most natural thing,” she said, “because you’ve done it for most of your life. You’ve been out there playing in front of the public, especially towards the end of the tournament, it’s the best time in the locker-rooms, you have your own corner, quiet time.”

As she said, it is the most natural thing to hanker after it again. Retirement is a challenge in any walk of life, but when you have been on top of the world . . . can anything match winning a grand-slam tournament? “Probably not.”

But it is in her nature to be positive, to look for new challenges. “You just have to look for them every day. If I make a grand-prix level jump with my horse, then I’m happy, I’m happy for that day. And you always try to make the best out of yourself — isn’t that the nature of an athlete? I know I can be better with my horse — I’m angry every time I ride because I know I could be better. But you’re satisfied with a lot less than you used to be — you used to be the best at your sport.”

But whereas, for most, retirement is a one-way street, Hingis has the opportunity to execute an about-turn. Her injured feet, which put her out of the sport, appear to have mended; there was no pain the morning after No 73 had done her work.

The problem for Hingis, as she put it, is that she has “smelled real life”. “I’d been doing that other thing (the tour) for so long. It’s hard to get away from what I’m doing now because my standard of living is so high — it’s difficult to sacrifice all those things. I’m not saying it’s better now, it’s different. I had a high standard of living on tour, I’d fly in private planes, stay in the best hotels, best resorts, travel the world. But work five or six hours a day?

“The last couple of years I’ve done things the way I want to. If it’s tennis, it has got to become your life and nothing else. For a young woman, you either accept it or you leave it. At the moment, mentally, I don’t think I’m ready for that.”

So there is a weighing-up in process. Hingis wants tennis again, she is booked to play Arantxa Sánchez-Vicario in an exhibition match on Sunday week and she jokes about starting a veterans tour for 25-year-olds. “I’d have to call up Anna (Kournikova) — ‘Hey! you want to start our own tour?’

“I think my ability was missing in the game. A lot of people have been telling me, ‘You should be out there.’ ”

But the problem is, the leap into the unknown. Her peers have said that she could get back to the top. Her response? “I guess I got the answer yesterday.” And then: “It would take so much more to really play the best out there. I know exactly what I would need to do to get better.”

What she meant was the physical work. Not just the dedication, but the need to build a game with the power to match the world best of today. The risk is that she may flounder, out of touch with the heights at which she once resided. She is teetering, although that smell of real life may be too good.