In Pictures: Martina Hingis all smiles as she attends annual Swiss spring celebration in Zurich, dresses up in traditional attire
Martina Hingis was all smiles as she attended Zurich's annual spring celebration. The former WTA World No. 1 dressed up in traditional Swiss attire for the event.
The annual celebration, Sechselauten (the six o’clock ringing of the bells), is a tradition that dates back centuries and is observed every year in Zurich during the beginning of spring. Historically costumed guild members, flags, flowers, horses, and music bands light up the event.
Sechselauten's main attraction, though, is the burning of Böögg, which is a snowman figure symbolic of winter. By burning Böögg, the Swiss bid goodbye to winter and welcome the spring season.
This year, Hingis was in attendance at the Sechselauten. The 5-time singles Grand Slam winner donned traditional Swiss attire as one of the costumed guild members. She shared a moment from the celebration on social media, which saw her posing for the camera with a wide smile on her face. Hingis captioned the post:
"I enjoyed my first “6 Lütä” in Zurich, as a great traditional Celebration Guild!"
This year's Sechselauten encountered a few hiccups when it came to burning Böögg, which marks the end of the celebration. While there were no issues with the parades, sudden high winds raised safety concerns. As a result, the burning was orchestrated hastily.
Martina Hingis took on media duties at the 2023 Swiss Indoors Basel
Hingis has mostly kept a low profile since she retired from tennis in 2017. Her last outing came at the 2017 WTA Finals in a doubles semifinal loss partnering Taiwan's Chan Yung-jan. However, at the 2023 Swiss Indoors Basel, the 43-year-old took on media duties.
The former WTA World No. 1 was grateful for the opportunity and expressed the same via a social media post. The post featured a picture of Hingis smiling as she stood holding a microphone alongside the tournament's director. She captioned the post:
"It was a great tournament in Basel! Thank you to the tournament director Roger Brennwald for inviting me once again... It was a wonderful day," she wrote on Instagram.
The prestigious ATP 500 event, which has been dominated by Hingis' illustrious compatriot Roger Federer (ten titles), saw Canadian Felix Auger-Aliassime lift the trophy after downing Hubert Hurkacz in the final. Auger-Aliassime had won the title in 2022 as well. On that occasion, the Canadian got the better of Holger Rune.