Martina Hingis was born to accomplished tennis players: a Czech mother, Melanie Molitorova, and a Hungarian father living in Košice (Slovakia), Károly Hingis. Molitorova was a professional tennis player, who was once ranked tenth among women in Czechoslovakia, and was determined to develop Martina Hingis into a top player as early as pregnancy. Her father was ranked as high as nineteenth in the Czechoslovakian tennis rankings