Latest news with #MartinaHingis
Daily Mirror
6 days ago
- Sport
- Daily Mirror
Wimbledon tennis star forced to retire at 27 after failing cocaine test
Martina Hingis was forced to retire from tennis at the age of 27 after she was handed a two-year ban when she tested positive for cocaine at Wimbledon in 2007 Former tennis sensation Martina Hingis had her illustrious career cut short at just 27, amid a tumultuous period involving cocaine allegations and the collapse of her first marriage. The Swiss ace netted an impressive 25 Grand Slam titles in her trophy-laden stint, with notable victories across singles, doubles, and mixed doubles at Wimbledon. Hingis took the tennis world by storm scooping five Grand Slam singles titles as a teenager. With a reign as world No. 1 that lasted an impressive 209 weeks from March 1997, courtesy of the Women's Tennis Association (WTA), her dominance on the court crumbled by 2007 due to injury woes, ultimately leading to a ban after she tested positive for a banned substance. Hingis faced the media at a press conference to declare she was being probed for a positive test for benzoylecgonine, a metabolite of cocaine, insisting, "I have tested positive but I have never taken drugs and I feel 100% innocent. "I am frustrated and angry. I find this accusation so horrendous, so monstrous, that I have decided to confront it head-on by talking to the press." Her Wimbledon drug test revealed 42 nanograms per millilitre of the substance, considered a minor amount. The International Tennis Federation acknowledged this in their report, and Hingis mounted an appeal, claiming the presence of the metabolite was due to contamination rather than illicit use, reports the Daily Star. However, her appeal did not win and the following year a tribunal suspended Hingis from the sport for two years. She retired from professional tennis as a result. The ex-tennis ace was married to Thibault Hutin, a French equestrian, but they split after just a year of marriage. In 2018, Hingis tied the knot with former sports doctor Harald Leemann and together they welcomed a daughter. The couple parted ways four years later, with reports indicating that Hingis and her child moved out of their family home to an apartment closer to her mother. Reflecting on the separation in 2022, she admitted: "Yes, Harry and I have separated. We have different life plans and different goals and have grown apart from each other." Reminiscing about her time on the court, Hingis spoke to ESPN, sharing her secret weapon: "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 is only one performance enhancer - the love of the game."
Free Malaysia Today
10-07-2025
- Sport
- Free Malaysia Today
Swiss Bencic through to her first Wimbledon semis
Belinda Bencic today became the first women's semi-finalist from Switzerland since 1998. (AP pic) LONDON : Switzerland's Belinda Bencic won two tiebreaks to beat Russian seventh seed Mirra Andreeva 7-6(3), 7-6(2) today and reach the Wimbledon semi-finals for the first time. The only mother left in the singles draw smashed her first of four match points to win the second tie-break of the contest and become her country's first women's semi-finalist since Martina Hingis in 1998. Poland's five-time Grand Slam champion Iga Swiatek now stands between her and a place in the final. Andreeva, 18, fired four aces in the opening set to none for Bencic and there was next to nothing between the pair until the Russian netted a couple of forehands in the tie-break. Bencic had two break points at 4-4 in the second set, Andreeva saving one and then hitting long to go 5-4 down and leaving the Tokyo 2020 Olympic champion to serve for a place in the last four. Andreeva refused to follow the script, however, and broke straight back to 5-5 before going to 6-5 with 28-year-old Bencic then serving to take the match to another tie-break.
CNA
09-07-2025
- Sport
- CNA
Swiss mum Bencic through to her first Wimbledon semis
LONDON :Switzerland's Belinda Bencic won two tiebreaks to beat Russian seventh seed Mirra Andreeva 7-6(3) 7-6(2) on Wednesday and reach the Wimbledon semi-finals for the first time. The only mother left in the singles draw smashed her first of four match points to win the second tie-break of the contest and become her country's first women's semi-finalist since Martina Hingis in 1998. Poland's five-times Grand Slam champion Iga Swiatek now stands between her and a place in the final. Andreeva, 18, fired four aces in the opening set to none for Bencic and there was next to nothing between the pair until the Russian netted a couple of forehands in the tie-break. Bencic had two break points at 4-4 in the second set, Andreeva saving one and then hitting long to go 5-4 down and leaving the Tokyo 2020 Olympic champion to serve for a place in the last four. Andreeva refused to follow the script, however, and broke straight back to 5-5 before going to 6-5 with 28-year-old Bencic then serving to take the match to another tie-break.
France 24
09-07-2025
- Sport
- France 24
Bencic beats Andreeva to reach first Wimbledon semi-final
The former Olympic champion is enjoying her best run at the All England Club just over a year after giving birth. The 28-year-old had her daughter Bella in April 2024, but has already risen to 35 in the world since returning from maternity leave. Wimbledon appears to be child's play for Bencic this year and she dispatched Andreeva in just over two hours of enthralling quarter-final action on Centre Court. Bencic, a former world number four, will face five-time Grand Slam champion Iga Swiatek for a place in Saturday's final. "It's crazy, it's unbelievable. It's a dream come true. I tried not to think about it at the match point. I'm just speechless," Bencic said. "I studied all evening yesterday to come up with a plan. I think it worked out well. With two tie-breaks it is not easy, it's just a small edge." Bencic's only other Grand Slam last-four appearance ended in defeat at the US Open in 2019, two years before she won singles gold at the Tokyo Olympics. She is the first Swiss woman semi-finalist at Wimbledon since Martina Hingis 27 years ago, having failed to make it past the last 16 in her previous eight visits to southwest London. "I'm very proud. I didn't say it to myself much before but since having Bella I say it to myself every day. It's not only me, I wouldn't be able to do it without my amazing family and team," Bencic said. "We worked so hard on the comeback. We are enjoying life on tour and to play great is a bonus. "I'm generally just really happy to be able to play again, because my body allows it." The rising star of the WTA Tour, 18-year-old Andreeva was the youngest women's Wimbledon quarter-finalist since Nicole Vaidisova in 2007. Under the wing of former Wimbledon winner Conchita Martinez, the Russian had breezed through the first four rounds without dropping a set. Andreeva said she was so focused on each point during her fourth-round tie against Emma Navarro that she did not realise when she won on match point. But Bencic proved equally locked in and the Swiss veteran defied a painful cracked toe-nail in the second set to seal her memorable triumph. "They always crack. It is the life of a tennis player. I didn't want to take a medical time-out so you don't have to see this," she said.
Economic Times
08-07-2025
- Entertainment
- Economic Times
A perfect serve & volley
Ivan Lendl may have dismissed Wimbledon with his 'grass is for cows' quip, but for many tennis players and fans, Centre Court remains the ultimate arena. With the championships going on, it's the perfect time to listen to tennis podcasts There are several out there, ranging from match analysis to tennis IQ podcasts, but do listen to Tennis Insider Club if you're interested in hearing from top players and about their journeys on the episode 21, Interview with Belinda Bencic, hosts former world No. 4 Caroline Garcia and academic Borja Duran talk to the 2020 Olympic gold medallist about her journey from being a toddler with a racket to competing against the world's talks about how she turned her father's dream into her passion, the impact of training under Martina Hingis ' mother, and how moving to pursue her dreams shaped her also shares the challenges of being in the public eye, battling injuries, pressures of representing Switzerland - where Roger Federer and Martina Hingis set the bar high - and how motherhood transformed her perspective on tennis and life. Insights served straight from the baseline - with strawberries and cream on the side.
