Martina Hingis Retires (Again) from Tennis

Former world no. 1 and five-time Grand Slam Champion Martina Hingis announced her retirement from professional tennis after accusations of her taking cocaine during the Championships at Wimbledon surfaced. The 27-year-old Swiss Miss first retired in 2003 due to a string of injuries but made a comeback at the end of 2005, which saw her win one more doubles Grand Slam title (2006 Australian Open) and three more WTA tour titles.

She denied ever taking drugs, claiming that "it would be impossible for anyone to maintain the coordination required to play top class tennis while under the influence of drugs."

I have no desire to spend the next several years of my life reduced to fighting against the doping officials.

I am frustrated and angry. I believe that I am absolutely, 100 per cent innocent.

The fact is that it is more and more difficult for me, physically, to keep playing at the top of the game.

And frankly, accusations such as these don't exactly provide me with motivation to even make another attempt to do so.

I attempted a comeback after a three-year break and succeeded in winning three tournaments, bringing my ranking to six in the world.

But in the meantime, I'm now 27 years old, and realistically too old to play top-class tennis.

Martina Hingis (11-1-2007)

She prematurely ended her 2007 season, withdrawing from the Zurich Open last month due to a hip injury. This alone has led to speculations that she  was about to retire. She is currently ranked no. 19. The WTA Tour declined to comment, citing they have yet to receive official information regarding the positive doping test result.

BBC links:

Martina Hingis' statement in full

Hingis: Career in photos