Youngest Grand Slam singles winner to multiple comebacks
Martina Hingis is one of the greatest tennis players ever; she became the youngest player to accomplish the following: win a Grand Slam title, a Grand Slam singles title, and be ranked #1. She won her first Grand Slam in Wimbledon doubles at 15 in 1996, the Australian Open singles and #1 ranking at 16 in 1997.
In 2003, at 22, Martina had to retire from the sport due to ankle injuries and back pain initially, having won 5 Grand Slam singles titles and four doubles titles already. However, after many surgeries, she would unretire in 2005 and won the mixed doubles title in the 2006 Australian Open. She would reach a peak ranking of #6.
Hingis would retire again in November 2007 after the International Tennis Federation, ITF, found a small number of cocaine metabolites in her urine test; the amount found was below the threshold of many other drug testing programs. Nevertheless, they suspended her for two years. Her chronic hip pain also factored into the decision to retire.
The International Tennis Hall of Fame inducted Martina in 2013, but she would announce one more comeback to the WTA Tour. She would win six mixed doubles Grand Slam titles and reached the #1 ranking for doubles during this last comeback.
Quotes
It's over for me but life goes on. I am not capable anymore of doing what's needed to be done to stay at the top.
Martina Hingis
I was thinking about it the past five years,... I never really had the courage until now. I've been playing a lot more, and it's a good time to do it after playing TeamTennis.
Martina Hingis
References
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Martina Hingis: The flame that burned twice as bright and twice as long
Martina Hingis, 36, won the women’s doubles and the mixed doubles at the recent US Open, taking her overall grand slam total to 25. She partnered with Taiwan’s Chan Yung-Jan to win the women’s doubles title and Briton Jamie Murray to win the mixed doubles tournament.
CNN
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Martina Hingis Needs to Resist Temptation to Stretch Latest Comeback to Singles
In 2006, Hingis returned to WTA singles competition and despite her extended absence from the sport achieved a respectable degree of success. She advanced to the quarterfinals of the 2006 Australian Open, won a pair of WTA events later that year and actually peaked at No. 6 in the world rankings.
Bleacher Report
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Martina Hingis Comeback: 'I Was Thinking About It the Past 5 Years'
The Slovakian-born and Switzerland-raised tennis prodigy was the former World No. 1 in singles and doubles, and after a six-year absence since her retirement from the WTA in 2007, she is making a highly anticipated comeback in doubles at the Southern California Open this Monday.
Bleacher Report
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Hingis quits tennis
The 22-year-old "Swiss Miss", who topped the world rankings for four consecutive years, revealed she has lost her battle against severe ankle problems.
BBC
