Five-time grand slam champion Hingis tested positive for cocaine at Wimbledon

 

Last updated at 18:32pm on 1st November 2007 Comments

Former world number one Martina Hingis says she has tested positive for cocaine.

 

The five-times grand slam champion admitted she had tested positive during this year's Wimbledon tournament adding she was retiring from professional tennis.

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Retiring: Martina Hingis says she has never taken drugs

 

She said: "I have tested positive but I have never taken drugs and I feel one hundred percent innocent."

"The reason I have come out with this is because I do not want to have a fight with anti-doping authorities.

"Because of my age and my health problems I have also decided to retire from professional tennis."

The 27-year-old Swiss player lost in the third round at Wimbledon to Laura Granville, 6-4, 6-2.

Hingis returned to the sport two years ago after a four-year absence because of injuries.

"I find this accusation so horrendous, so monstrous that I've decided to confront it head on by talking to the press," she said.

"My weapon on the tennis court is and always was one single thing, the game, the ingenuity on court and, for this style of tennis, there's only one performance enhancer, the love of the game."

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Champion: Hingis has been successful although she was dogged by injury

 

She won three straight Australian Open titles from 1997-99, and Wimbledon and the U.S. Open championships in 1997.

Hingis, who lost in the third round of the US Open, hasn't played since her second-round loss to Peng Shuai of China, 7-5, 6-1, in Beijing on Sept 19.

WTA Tour chief executive Larry Scott said the tour had not received any official information about a positive test and "as a result we are not in a position to comment on the matter."

"However, it is important to remember that in the area of anti-doping, all players are presumed innocent until proven otherwise," Scott said.

Referring to her retirement, he said: "Martina Hingis is a tremendous champion and a fan favorite the world over. In her most recent comeback, she proved again that she can perform at the very highest levels of the game."

she's an idiot... and to think i liked her:\

shouldn't had that poppy seed muffin for breakfast