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| Martina Hingis |
She sat on top of the world as tennis’s number one player at an early age, but this week, after reports of testing positive for cocaine use,
Martina Hingis has finally said goodbye to the tennis world. The 27-year-old leaves a legacy of inappropriate comments that sometimes outweighed her amazing tennis ability.
Named after tennis legend
Martina Navratilova, Hingis was born to be a great champion. She amassed five Grand Slam singles titles and nine doubles titles before the age of 22.
She retired from the sport in 2003 after being plagued by ligament injuries and 209 weeks as the number one ranked female player, but returned a few years later to try to regain her titles.
She would often speak negatively about other players on the tour criticizing the age of
Steffi Graff and
Jana Novotna and making snide comments about her rivalry with
Venus and
Serena Williams.
In 1999, after
Amelie Mauresmo burst on to the seen and publicly came out of the closet, Hingis referred to Mauersmo as a “half man” because of her sexuality.
Her often-cocky behavior painted a negative image of the young phenom in the press, and she would often taunt other players by saying she was more skilled than they were.
In a 2001
Time magazine interview, she made more negative comments about the Williams' sisters stating: "Being black only helps them. Many times they get sponsors because they are black. And they have had a lot of advantages because they can always say, 'It's racism'.”
Hingis called a press conference in Glattbrugg, Switzerland to announce her permanent retirement, and it was revealed that she had tested positive for cocaine use on June 29, the day she lost in straight sets to
Laura Granville of the United States in the third round at Wimbledon.
Hingis has denied the test results, stating: “I would think that it would be impossible for anyone to maintain the coordination required to play top-class tennis while under the influence of drugs. I would personally be terrified of taking drugs.”
Hingis is under investigation for the positive tests by the World Anti-Doping Agency, and could still face charges for violating tennis’s doping policy.
