Hingis's comeback ends with a positive test for cocaine
PARIS -- Martina Hingis, the world's youngest ever women's number one tennis player, ended her career after a successful comeback on a sour note when she admitted testing positive for cocaine.
Hingis told a news conference that she failed a drugs test during this year's Wimbledon.
"I have tested positive but I have never taken drugs and I feel 100 percent innocent," Hingis said.
"The reason I have come out with this is because I do not want to have a fight with anti-doping authorities."
She added: "Because of my age and my health problems I have also decided to retire from professional tennis."
Hingis, 27, announced her second retirement Thursday after returning to the WTA circuit in 2006, winning two tier one titles in Rome and Tokyo and making the quarter-finals of the 2006 French Open and the 2006 and 2007 Australian Open, which she won three times.
In 1997, at the age of 16 Hingis became world number, winning three Grand Slam tournaments, the Australian Open, Wimbledon and US Open, but missing a Slam sweep when she lost to Iva Majoli in the French Open final.
Hingis was the youngest player to win a Grand Slam title when she won the Australian Open in 1997 at the age of 16 and three months.
She won three consecutive Australian Open titles to take her Grand Slam total to five with her number one ranking extending to the year 2000.
However Hingis's tennis brilliance was not enough to endear her to a public often annoyed by her on-court antics and harsh off-court comments about opponents, including her description of French number one Amelie Mauresmo as "half man" in 1999.
The same year the teenage champion made a tearful and graceless exit from center court at Roland Garros after narrowly losing the final of the French Open to Steffi Graf.
Hingis had been whistled by a center court crowd unimpressed by her regular arguments over line calls with the match referee during the final.
In 2000 Hingis, accompanied by her ever-present mother and coach, Melanie Molitor, lost the Australian Open to Lindsay Davenport in the final 6-1, 7-5.
Her incredible record in this Grand Slam tournament continued and she made the finals for the next two years but lost both to Jennifer Capriati.
In 2002 Hingis announced her retirement, spending her time looking after her horses and commentating on matches for Swiss television.
At the end of 2005 she announced her return to professional tennis with most players predicting she would fail in a game which had become much more physical.
Eleven months later, the Swiss star had silenced her critics by winning her 41st and 42nd titles and finishing with a world ranking of seventh.
But for Hingis the comeback represented something more; she was no longer the player the public loved to hate. Center court crowds now cheered the older and more mature Hingis.
"When I was 17, it wasn't like that. Maybe it’s the respect for your elders. But anyway, it is the best recompense there is, its fantastic," said an emotional Hingis during the 2006 Masters in Madrid, the season finale for the best eight players in the world.
Hingis, who suffered numerous injuries during 2007, saw her ranking fall to 19th before ending her career with the announcement that she had tested positive for cocaine at Wimbledon -- something she denies ever taking.
The announcement tainted the retirement of the Swiss star who had gained a grace and maturity which had eluded the sometimes petulant teenager but never lost the ambition.
"Sometimes it feels like yesterday, sometimes like a lifetime," Hingis said at this year's US Open.
"When you wake up in the morning and feel really good, you feel like you've been on the tour forever.
"It has been 10 years. I know that. Really. I had time off. I had a good comeback last year. I try to bring the best, not think about what has happened.
"I know nobody can take that away from me. You have to keep evolving, keep trying to get better."
Larry Scott, chief executive of the WTA Tour, said in a statement that he had no idea what Hingis was talking about regarding a positive test.
"The WTA Tour has not received any official information regarding the positive doping test result referred to by Martina Hingis in her press conference and as a result we are not in a position to comment on the matter," Scott said.
"However, it is important to remember that in the area of anti-doping, all players are presumed innocent until proven otherwise."
Scott praised Hingis for her outstanding career.
"Martina Hingis is a tremendous champion and a fan favorite the world over," he said. "In her most recent comeback, she proved again that she can perform at the very highest levels of the game. Martina will always be respected."
PARIS -- Martina Hingis, the world's youngest ever women's number one tennis player, ended her career after a successful comeback on a sour note when she admitted testing positive for cocaine.
Hingis told a news conference that she failed a drugs test during this year's Wimbledon.
"I have tested positive but I have never taken drugs and I feel 100 percent innocent," Hingis said.
"The reason I have come out with this is because I do not want to have a fight with anti-doping authorities."
She added: "Because of my age and my health problems I have also decided to retire from professional tennis."
Hingis, 27, announced her second retirement Thursday after returning to the WTA circuit in 2006, winning two tier one titles in Rome and Tokyo and making the quarter-finals of the 2006 French Open and the 2006 and 2007 Australian Open, which she won three times.
In 1997, at the age of 16 Hingis became world number, winning three Grand Slam tournaments, the Australian Open, Wimbledon and US Open, but missing a Slam sweep when she lost to Iva Majoli in the French Open final.
Hingis was the youngest player to win a Grand Slam title when she won the Australian Open in 1997 at the age of 16 and three months.
She won three consecutive Australian Open titles to take her Grand Slam total to five with her number one ranking extending to the year 2000.
However Hingis's tennis brilliance was not enough to endear her to a public often annoyed by her on-court antics and harsh off-court comments about opponents, including her description of French number one Amelie Mauresmo as "half man" in 1999.
The same year the teenage champion made a tearful and graceless exit from center court at Roland Garros after narrowly losing the final of the French Open to Steffi Graf.
Hingis had been whistled by a center court crowd unimpressed by her regular arguments over line calls with the match referee during the final.
In 2000 Hingis, accompanied by her ever-present mother and coach, Melanie Molitor, lost the Australian Open to Lindsay Davenport in the final 6-1, 7-5.
Her incredible record in this Grand Slam tournament continued and she made the finals for the next two years but lost both to Jennifer Capriati.
In 2002 Hingis announced her retirement, spending her time looking after her horses and commentating on matches for Swiss television.
At the end of 2005 she announced her return to professional tennis with most players predicting she would fail in a game which had become much more physical.
Eleven months later, the Swiss star had silenced her critics by winning her 41st and 42nd titles and finishing with a world ranking of seventh.
But for Hingis the comeback represented something more; she was no longer the player the public loved to hate. Center court crowds now cheered the older and more mature Hingis.
"When I was 17, it wasn't like that. Maybe it’s the respect for your elders. But anyway, it is the best recompense there is, its fantastic," said an emotional Hingis during the 2006 Masters in Madrid, the season finale for the best eight players in the world.
Hingis, who suffered numerous injuries during 2007, saw her ranking fall to 19th before ending her career with the announcement that she had tested positive for cocaine at Wimbledon -- something she denies ever taking.
The announcement tainted the retirement of the Swiss star who had gained a grace and maturity which had eluded the sometimes petulant teenager but never lost the ambition.
"Sometimes it feels like yesterday, sometimes like a lifetime," Hingis said at this year's US Open.
"When you wake up in the morning and feel really good, you feel like you've been on the tour forever.
"It has been 10 years. I know that. Really. I had time off. I had a good comeback last year. I try to bring the best, not think about what has happened.
"I know nobody can take that away from me. You have to keep evolving, keep trying to get better."
Larry Scott, chief executive of the WTA Tour, said in a statement that he had no idea what Hingis was talking about regarding a positive test.
"The WTA Tour has not received any official information regarding the positive doping test result referred to by Martina Hingis in her press conference and as a result we are not in a position to comment on the matter," Scott said.
"However, it is important to remember that in the area of anti-doping, all players are presumed innocent until proven otherwise."
Scott praised Hingis for her outstanding career.
"Martina Hingis is a tremendous champion and a fan favorite the world over," he said. "In her most recent comeback, she proved again that she can perform at the very highest levels of the game. Martina will always be respected."
