The five-time Grand Slam champion, who is already retired, was banned from tennis for two years Friday when it was announced she was found guilty of testing positive for cocaine at the All England Club. Perhaps of more significance, her reputation was tarnished.
A three-person, independent tribunal rejected Hingis' defense, calling it "a simple and straightforward case." Her manager said she won't appeal the ruling.
"Since Martina has retired from competitive sports, it makes no sense for her to challenge the judgment," manager Mario Widmer said in Switzerland. "She just isn't going to play anymore."
The failed drug test after Hingis' loss to Laura Granville on June 29 at Wimbledon came to light Nov. 1. That's when the 27-year-old player choked back tears at a news conference while revealing she tested positive for cocaine and said she would leave the sport she once ruled.
That day, she called the accusations "so horrendous, so monstrous," and added, "I believe that I am absolutely, 100 percent innocent."
Hingis' agent did not respond to e-mail and telephone messages requesting comment.
Hingis is the second WTA player suspended for testing positive for cocaine. Lourdes Dominguez Lino of Spain was banned for three months in 2002. One other woman has been suspended since tennis' anti-doping program was formed in 1993: Sesil Karatantcheva was banned for two years in January 2006 after testing positive for the steroid nandrolone.
Hingis drew support from Venus Williams, a six-time Grand Slam title winner and current Wimbledon champion.
"I like Martina. I think she's a nice girl. I was shocked with everyone else," said Williams, who is playing an exhibition tournament in Hong Kong. "For me, personally, I give her the benefit of the doubt."
The suspension runs from Oct. 1, 2007, through Sept. 30, 2009, and Hingis' results at Wimbledon, the U.S. Open and three smaller tournaments last year were wiped out, meaning she must forfeit $129,481 in prize money plus her ranking points.
"It's going to be an element of her record and her legacy that I'm sure she hopes wouldn't be there and, I guess, to some degree does take away something from all of her great accomplishments," WTA Tour chief executive Larry Scott said in a telephone interview.
In the 46-page decision, a copy of which was obtained by The Associated Press, the tribunal wrote that Hingis "reiterated her denial that she had ever knowingly taken cocaine," and "asserted cocaine is a ubiquitous substance which can easily be present in the body through contamination, for example by handling banknotes."
Her side also denied that the sample that tested positive was the sample provided by her and presented seven specific criticisms of the drug-testing process.
But, the decision said, "the force of the case against the player was overwhelming and the tribunal's task was ultimately quite simple."
The ruling outlines the drug-testing process and provides a minute-by-minute account of what happened when Hingis provided her sample at Wimbledon - a result of a random draw that determined the loser of her third-round match against Granville would be tested.
Among the details: Hingis wrote "All good!" before signing her name on the doping control form.
Wimbledon was her first tournament after missing 1½ months with hip and back injuries.
"I just didn't want to miss Wimbledon," Hingis said at the time. "Probably at the end of the day, it wasn't, like, the smartest thing."
The former No. 1 player, nicknamed "The Swiss Miss," quit tennis in 2002 because of foot and leg injuries and missed three years' worth of majors. When she returned to the circuit full time in 2006, Hingis reached two Grand Slam quarterfinals, won two smaller tournaments and finished the year No. 7.
This season was more difficult, and she was ranked No. 19 at the end of last season.
At the height of her powers, Hingis was brilliant at controlling points and working every angle. She was the youngest major champion of the 20th century when she won the 1997 Australian Open at 16, and later that year she became the youngest woman at No. 1. She went on to win Wimbledon and the U.S. Open that season, too, coming within a loss in the French Open final of a calendar-year Grand Slam.
"Her record is so stellar," Scott said. "The warmth that she enjoys from so many fans around the world ... runs very deep, and over time I don't think this is going to have a very detrimental effect on her legacy."
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AP Tennis Writer Howard Fendrich in Washington contributed to
this report.
