Martina Hingis figures she wouldn't have needed any help from fans to earn her spot in the International Tennis Hall of Fame. Still, she likes the idea that folks around the world now will have a say in who gets elected.
"I would have hoped that people liked me and liked my game, liked my style, so hopefully that wouldn't have made a difference to make it in or out," Hingis said with a laugh during a phone interview. "I would have only hoped that it would only push me more. I would hope that in my case, it would have been pretty clear that I had made it."
Her sport's Hall will let fans help select its next inductees. Anyone will be able to submit an online ballot starting in late August for the Class of 2019.
The votes will then become part of the overall tally that determines which players are elected.
As in the past, members of the Hall of Fame, journalists and tennis historians will continue to be the primary selectors.
Inductees still will need to be named on 75 percent of the ballots to get in. But now, the top three recipients of votes from fans will get a "bonus" percentage that will be tacked on to what they are given by the main panel — 3 percent for the most popular candidate among the fans, 2 percent for second place, 1 percent for third.
So in the case of a candidate who is nearly approved by the Hall-chosen voters but did not quite garner enough support, the choices of people who watched from the stands or on TV could matter.
"You can help someone who maybe is close, almost there, with 74 percent, and then with 1 percent of the vote from the fans or 2 percent, you get to be a Hall of Famer, because people liked you and they followed you and they enjoyed your game," said Hingis, who was a member of the Hall's Class of 2013 and now serves as an ambassador for the shrine, which is in Newport, Rhode Island. "Without the fans, you wouldn't have the sport."
The nominees for the Class of 2019 will be announced this week. The fan vote results will be released in October, and the list of inductees will be announced in January.
Michael Stich and Helena Sukova are this year's inductees.
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