By DPA
Melbourne : Former World No.1 Martina Hingis of Switzerland has dropped her battle to clear her name from a dope test controversy, Women’s Tennis Association (WTA) chief executive Larry Scott confirmed here Monday.
Hingis announced her surprise retirement last November as she revealed a positive test for cocaine from Wimbledon last summer.
At the time, the 27-year-old Swiss said she was completely innocent and vowed to fight the charges.
Scott, on the sidelines of the ongoing Australian Open, said that Hingis had told him she is giving up the fight of an appeal to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) in Switzerland.
“I spoke with her last week and she told me that she will not appeal to the CAS,” said Scott.
The International Tennis Federation announced Jan 4 that the five-time Grand Slam champion had been suspended for two years and was asked to return $129,481 she earned as prize money.
“Martina (Hingis) said to me that the situation is frustrating, and that the process is long and costs huge expenses,” added Scott.
“I met with her in November in Madrid and spoke last week over the phone,” said Scott. “I believe Martina is still trying to assess exactly what happened to her.”
Hingis was supposed to have based her defence on a negative hair strand analysis, which she financed after hearing news of the positive test.
Her lawyers said that the A and B samples of her urine could have also been switched by accident or contaminated.
Hingis retired in late 2002 with ankle and foot problems but made a surprise return to the WTA circuit in January 2006, winning three titles including Pan Pacific Open in Tokyo last season.