OMNISPORT

Martina Hingis has confirmed she will retire from professional tennis after the WTA Finals in Singapore.

Hingis turned professional shortly before her 14th birthday and will bring the curtain down on an impressive career that has spanned more than 23 years.

The Slovakia-born Swiss won her first major singles title at the Australian Open aged 16 and became the youngest world number one in Tour history, while only defeat to Iva Majoli in the 1997 French Open final denied her a calendar Grand Slam.

Hingis won a total of 25 major titles – singles glory at Roland Garros the only thing to evade her – and was triumphant at the WTA Finals in 1998 and 2000, the latter combined with the second of three doubles wins at the season-ending competition.

"It's the right time for me. It's better to stop at the peak and I can say I've had a very good time, the successes I've had over the past three years have been great and it's going to be hard to beat," said Hingis.

The 37-year-old, the top-ranked women's doubles player, retired aged 22 in 2003 due to injuries, but returned to the sport two years later.

Hingis took another break from the sport after testing positive for a metabolite of cocaine at Wimbledon in 2007 and has focused solely on doubles since her return.

She will be hoping to sign off her career with a 108th WTA Tour title with doubles partner Chan Yung-jan on Sunday.