NEW YORK -- Martina Hingis won the last nine games of her first-round match with Laura Granville on Monday, but later found herself in a defensive posture.

The U.S. Open's No. 1 seed was sailing along in her post-match interview, just as she had in the 6-2, 6-0 match that required only 46 minutes, when she was asked about comments attributed to her in the current issue of Time Magazine. Hingis had said that being black has been an advantage for sisters Venus and Serena Williams.

	“	I just maybe said something, which is not politically correct, but I don't know. I don't know all the laws, all the rules that are going on in this country. I mean, if you expect that from me, it's too much. I'm sorry if I hurt anybody. ”
		— Martina Hingis

"Well, I'm sorry if I hurt anybody's feelings with that," Hingis said, "but I think at that time I meant it probably not always in the same way. I think I was right at the time, but it doesn't mean it's against everybody.

"I just maybe said something, which is not politically correct, but I don't know. I don't know all the laws, all the rules that are going on in this country. I mean, if you expect that from me, it's too much. I'm sorry if I hurt anybody."

It was just another example of Hingis, 20, making news off the court with her historically loose mouth. Here, for the record, is how Time quoted Hingis on the subject of the Williams sisters:

"Being black only helps them. Many times they get sponsors because they are black. And they have had a lot of advantages because they can always say, 'It's racism.'

"They can always come back and say, 'Because we are this color, things happen.'"

After losing the first set to German Anca Barna, Serena Williams rallied to win Monday night 4-6, 6-1, 6-2. Afterward, she was questioned closely about the Hingis comments in Time Magazine.

"I've said this a million times," Serena said, "I never read articles, I just look at the pictures. It was a nice picture on the cover. I liked how my hair was a little aerodynamic."

And so, a member of the assembled media read her the quote about favored treatment.

"Um," Williams said. "Uh, I really wouldn't know what to think of that. I just heard this quote. I don't know. You'd have to ask her what she meant by that."

Williams was told that Hingis basically stuck by her words.

"Did she?" Williams said sharply. "As for being black and getting more endorsements because I'm black, I wouldn't know anything about that. All I know is I get endorsements because I win and work hard."

Later, Williams was asked about Time Magazine quotes attributed to Martina Navratilova, saying that people were afraid to criticize the Williamses because they would be charged with racism.

"You can go back and read all my transcripts," Williams said. "I never said, "This happened to me because I was black.' I have gone to a store and been treated differently because I was black, once." Williams paused. "Maybe that was a bit [her voice dropped to a dramatic stage whisper] on the fabrication side."

Back in March, Richard Williams, the sisters' father and coach, claimed that the booing of his daughters at Indian Wells -- by a predominantly white crowd -- was fueled, at least in part, by racism.

"When Venus and I were walking down the stairs to our seats, people kept calling me n-----," Williams said then. "One guy said, 'I wish it was '75; we'd skin you alive.' That's when I stopped and walked toward that way. Then I realized that [my] best bet was to handle the situation nonviolently.

"I had trouble holding back the tears. I think Indian Wells disgraced America."

Hingis was asked Monday if she thought the Williams sisters used race as a weapon.

"No," Hingis said. "It was just that one time, I think. And I don't know, it's not up to me to judge that -- what they do.

"You always have respect about whatever you say. You don't always want to judge other people. Doesn't matter what race you are, what color they are. It might turn back on you, turn against you."

Hingis' most recent comments were difficult to assess. On one hand, she apologized for the Time Magazine remarks. On the other, she added, "I think I was right at the time."

Then, in her final word on the subject, Hingis seemed genuinely apologetic. She was asked if, given the sensitive nature of the Williams' race, she was hesitant to speak out against them.

"Me being No. 1, I have to watch out all the time," she said, laughing. "For me, it's a general thing because, yeah, like every time I win, it's good. If I lose, it's like, 'What did she do there? What did she say?' It's always out there.

"I mean, the way -- I'm trying to be a professional in my sport as much as I'm trying to do the same off the court. You make mistakes all the time, but you try to learn."

Size issues
Even setting words aside, the Williams sisters represent the shadow that has been cast on the vaguely disappointing career trajectory of Martina Hingis. The Swiss athlete won five Grand Slam singles titles by the age of 19, but she hasn't won a sixth in the 10 opportunities since the 1999 Australian Open.

	Martina Hingis relies on skill because she does not have the power game like that of the Williams sisters and Lindsay Davenport.

Size, at least in this sport today, has become an issue.

Four of those coveted major championships went to the Williams sisters, who stand 6-foot-1, 160 pounds (Venus) and 5-10, 145 pounds (Serena). Two apiece went to 6-2½, 175-pound Lindsay Davenport and Jennifer Capriati (5-8½, 135 pounds) and another to 5-10, 150-pound Mary Pierce. All five players are bigger and, more to the point, stronger than the 5-7, 130-pound Hingis.

It was Hingis' good fortune to win her slam titles before the Williams sisters got their bearings and Davenport and Capriati rose to prominence. People around the game believe that Hingis lacks the power -- particularly the serve -- to consistently win Grand Slam events.

No one is more aware of this than Hingis herself. After her match with Granville, Hingis' first bubbly comment was, "Four aces today -- pretty good."

Later, it was pointed out that Hingis' serves failed to reach 100 mph, even once.

"I know I'm not going to hit it like Venus, 124," Hingis said. "Placement, mixing it up so the opponent doesn't always know what I'm doing. That's my strategy. I know I'm not going to overpower anybody, or hit a hole through someone."

Even when she is completely healthy, Hingis has a narrow margin for error against her stronger opponents. She relies on intelligence and terrific timing from the baseline. Hingis lost to Capriati in the Australian Open final, 6-4, 6-3, then again to Capriati in the French Open semifinals by the same score. It is worth noting that to reach the Australian Open final, Hingis managed to defeat both Williams sisters, becoming the first player to defeat both sisters in the same Grand Slam event. The highlight of her season was her back-to-back wins in the Middle East. Hingis won the tournaments in Doha and Dubai to go with the Sydney title that opened her season.

Injuries and rumors of boy fever -- Hingis was linked romantically to the prosecutor of her stalker earlier this year -- have dogged Hingis since the French Open. At Wimbledon, she exited in the first round, losing to Spain's Virginia Ruano Pascual 6-4, 6-2, a result that would have been stunning if she hadn't matched it two years earlier in falling to Jelena Dokic under similar circumstances. Hingis blamed lower back tendinitis.

"I know if I'm 100 percent, I can go out and beat anybody," she said. "That's a great feeling to have. Not many players have that. You've seen other players having ups and downs. I mean, that's a very natural thing.

"Sometimes you just need some time to recover, your body and soul. Now I have the time to do it. We'll see where I go."

Where she went was home to Trubbach, Switzerland for five weeks. There was widespread speculation that her love life was detracting from her on-court concentration. In August, she returned to action in San Diego, where she suffered something called a stress reaction to her left foot. She was forced to withdraw from the Canadian Open two weeks ago but said Monday it hadn't been a factor.

"The last five, six days I could really put all the pressure [on it]," she said. "You know, it's been better. I feel it a little bit, but nothing serious. You have to continue. During the tournament, it might worsen."

Given the nature of her Time Magazine quotes, the same may be true of her professional reputation.

Greg Garber is a senior writer for ESPN.com.