Martina Hingis (born September 30, 1980 in Košice, Slovakia) is a former tennis player and World No. 1. Known as the "Swiss Miss", she won five Grand Slam singles titles (three Australian Open, one Wimbledon, and one US Open) before her retirement on November 1, 2007.

She also won nine Grand Slam women's doubles titles, winning a calendar year Grand Slam in 1998, and one Grand Slam mixed doubles title. She spent a total of 209 weeks as World No. 1 and set a series of "youngest-ever" records before ligament injuries in both ankles forced her to temporarily withdraw from professional tennis at the relatively early age of 22.

On November 29, 2005, after several surgeries and long recuperations, the 25-year-old Hingis announced that she would return to the WTA tour. During her comeback Hingis climbed as high as No. 6 in the world rankings and won three titles (at the Tier I tournament in Rome, the Tier III tournament in Kolkata, India, and the Tier I tournament in Tokyo).

On November 1, 2007, after suffering from injuries for much of the year, Hingis announced her second retirement from tennis while admitting she had tested positive for cocaine during the 2007 Wimbledon Championships. She denied using the drug.

Grand Slam success and period of dominance

In 1996, Hingis became the youngest Wimbledon champion when she teamed with Helena Suková to win the women's doubles title at age 15 years and 9 months. She also won her first professional singles title that year at Filderstadt, Germany. She reached the singles quarterfinals at the 1996 Australian Open and the singles semifinals of the 1996 U.S. Open. Following her win at Filderstadt, Hingis defeated the reigning Australian Open champion and co-top ranked (with Steffi Graf) Monica Seles 6-2, 6-0 in the final at Oakland. Hingis then lost to Graf 6-3, 4-6, 6-0, 4-6, 6-0 at the year-end WTA Tour Championships.

Hingis's best year was 1997 when she was the undisputed world No. 1 women's tennis player. She started the year by winning the warm-up tournament in Sydney. She then became the youngest Grand Slam singles winner in the 20th century by winning the Australian Open at age 16 years and 3 months (beating former champion Mary Pierce in the final). In March, she became the youngest top ranked player in history. In July, she became the youngest singles champion at Wimbledon since Lottie Dod in 1887 by beating Jana Novotná in the final. She then defeated another up-and-coming player, Venus Williams, in the final of the U.S. Open. The only Grand Slam singles title that Hingis failed to win in 1997 was the French Open, where she lost in the final to Iva Majoli.

In 1998, Hingis won all four of the Grand Slam women's doubles titles, only the fourth in women's tennis history to do so, (the Australian Open with Mirjana Lucic and the other three events with Novotná), and she became only the third woman to simultaneously hold the No. 1 ranking in both singles and doubles. She also retained her Australian Open singles title by beating Conchita Martínez in straight sets in the final. Hingis, however, lost in the final of the U.S. Open to Lindsay Davenport. Davenport ended an 80-week stretch Hingis had enjoyed as the No. 1 singles player in October 1998, but Hingis finished the year by beating Davenport in the final of the WTA Tour Championships.

1999 saw Hingis win her third successive Australian Open singles crown as well as the doubles title (with teammate Anna Kournikova). She then reached the French Open final and was three points away from victory in the second set against Steffi Graf, but ended up losing 4-6, 7-5, 6-2. During the match, Hingis had infuriated an already partisan crowd by arguing with the umpire over several line calls (crossing the net in one instance), taking a bathroom break early in the final set, and twice delivering a rare underhand serve on match point. In tears after the match, Hingis was comforted by her mother as she returned to the court for the trophy ceremony. After a shock first-round 6-2, 6-0 loss to Jelena Dokic at Wimbledon, Hingis bounced back to reach her third consecutive U.S. Open final, where she lost to Serena Williams. Hingis won a total of seven singles titles that year and reclaimed the No. 1 singles ranking. She also reached the final of the WTA Tour Championships, where she lost to Davenport 6-4, 6-2.

In 2000, Hingis again found herself in both the singles and doubles finals at the Australian Open. This time, however, she lost both. Her three-year hold on the singles championship ended when she lost to Davenport 6-1, 7-5. Later, Hingis and Pierce, her new doubles partner, lost to Lisa Raymond and Renee Stubbs. Hingis captured the French Open women's doubles title with Pierce and produced consistent results in singles tournaments throughout the year. She reached the quarter final at Wimbledon and played great tennis but was beaten by Venus Williams in a thrilling match. Although she did not win a Grand Slam singles tournament, she kept the year end No. 1 ranking because of nine tournament championships, including the WTA Tour Championships where she won the singles and doubles titles.