"I Had No Life"

by Craig Hickman


AP

In this Aug. 28, 2007 file photo, Martina Hingis of Switzerland returns a volley to Mathilde Johansson of France at the US Open tennis tournament in New York.

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How time flies.

PARIS — Martina Hingis won't make a comeback to competitive tennis.

The 29-year old Hingis, who retired after getting a two-year ban in 2007 for testing positive for cocaine, said Tuesday in an interview with L'Equipe that she is happy with her new life.

"I've got a nice house, my four horses," Hingis said. "On the tour, I had no life."

Hingis added that even without being tested positive, she likely would have retired.

"If I had won the four Grand Slam tournaments, maybe I would have continued," she said. "But I was on downslope. And I was suspended for two years, and that was it."

Hingis, who spent 209 weeks at No. 1 in the women's rankings and won five Grand Slam singles titles, said she went through hard times during her suspension.

"I didn't have the right to play any competition, even in another Olympic sport," she said. "I didn't have the right to feature in equestrian competition, even at an amateur level. ... I'm not sure I have completely recovered."

Hingis tested positive for cocaine after a third-round exit at Wimbledon in 2007. She denied using the drug.

Hingis said she learned that her suspension was over on Sept. 30 — her birthday — a few days after undergoing a doping test at her home.

"They thought maybe, like you, that I was planning a second comeback," she said.

Hingis quit tennis for the first time in 2002 because of foot and leg injuries. When she returned to the circuit in 2006, Hingis reached two Grand Slam quarterfinals, won two smaller tournaments and finished the year at No. 7.

For so long it seemed she had no life without tennis. Then she came back and discovered she had no life with it.

I'm not sure any of this surprises anyone, but there it is.