Season over for Hingis
Switzerland's Martina Hingis has been forced to surrender her world number one ranking and call an early end to the season after injuring herself in the semifinals of the WTA tournament in Filderstadt.
Hingis was forced to pull out of her semi-final match against American Lindsay Davenport after hurting her right ankle. It was thought at first that the Swiss star had merely strained the joint but subsequent tests revealed that she had in fact suffered torn ligaments.
The St Gallen player is now scheduled to undergo an operation in Zurich on Sunday, after which she will be out of competition for at least six weeks.
As well as being a major blow to Hingis, the news will have come as a shock to organisers of next week’s Kloten tennis tournament. With the home favourite and defending champion now certain to be missing, Switzerland’s top women’s tennis event finds itself without its top player.
Hingis’s injury means that America’s Jennifer Capriati will now arrive in Kloten as the world’s number one. This year’s Australian and French Open winner said she was “speechless” on hearing the news of her ascent to the top.
“It’s a little sad for Martina,” added the former child prodigy, “but these things happen. I have also been injured in the past.”
Hingis has led the world rankings for 73 consecutive weeks. Her fall from the top spot has long been anticipated, though, following her failure to win a single Grand Slam event for the second consecutive season.
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