Tennis icon Martina Hingis doesn't look a day older nearly two decades on from doping ban

Martina Hingis has continued to maintain a remarkably youthful look almost two decades on from her doping scandal. The tennis icon, who won 25 Grand Slam titles in singles, doubles and mixed doubles, carved a stellar legacy for herself despite having a career cut short by injuries in 2003, when she initially retired due to ankle issues.

A return to the court came a few years later but was stopped in its tracks after she was handed a two-year ban from the sport for testing positive for a metabolite of cocaine in a urine test in 2007. It's 18 years to the day since her fateful suspension, but Hingis has barely aged and still looks like she'll be a tough test for anyone on the court. Originally from Czechoslovakia, Hingis moved to Switzerland at the tender age of six following her parents' divorce. Following in her father's footsteps, Hingis displayed exceptional talent from an early age, clinching a French Open junior Grand Slam title when she was just 12.

In 1996, she made history by becoming the youngest ever Grand Slam champion, winning the women's doubles title at Wimbledon at the age of 15 years and nine months. 1997 proved to be the pinnacle of her career, as she ascended to the world No. 1 spot and secured further Grand Slam victories, including the Australian Open and Wimbledon singles titles.

She capped off the year by defeating Venus Williams in the US Open final, thereby holding three of the four slams that year. Over the course of her illustrious career, Hingis won three Australian Open Grand Slams (1997, 1998, 1999) and single titles at Wimbledon (1997) and the US Open (1997). She tasted significant success in doubles, ruling the roost in both women's and mixed categories.

However, her career took a hit in the early 2000s due to ankle surgeries, leading to her first retirement from tennis at just 22 due to unbearable pain. Despite attempting a comeback in 2005, she never managed to reach the pinnacle of her early career on the baseline.

In 2007, she was embroiled in controversy after testing positive for benzoylecgonine, a cocaine metabolite, during a urine test at Wimbledon. Despite appealing and insisting she was innocent, she received a two-year ban. The twilight years of her doubles-only career were filled with triumphs, including four major women's doubles tournaments, six major mixed doubles tournaments, 27 WTA Tour titles, and a silver medal in women's doubles at the 2016 Rio Olympics.

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She finally retired for good in 2017, but even now at 45, she appears fit enough to compete and has been spotted playing at invitational events in recent years. Away from the court, Hingis has been married twice. She got engaged to fellow tennis player Radek Stepanek in 2006, but they called off their engagement a year later.

Later, she got engaged to Swiss attorney Andreas Bieri in 2009, but once again, the couple ended their relationship in 2010. Hingis then wed French equestrian show jumper Thibault Hutin in December 2010, but their marriage was short-lived. The tennis star confirmed to a Swiss newspaper in 2013 that they had been separated since the start of that year.

Their relationship breakdown unfolded in the public eye. The Daily Mail reported that Hingis was questioned by Swiss police after Hutin alleged he had been attacked by Hingis and her mother. He also claimed Hingis' mother's boyfriend assaulted him with a DVD player. Both her mother Melanie Molitor and her mother's boyfriend Mario Widmer were interviewed by police.

Five years on, she tied the knot with sports physician Harald Leemann in Switzerland in a private ceremony. On her 38th birthday, she announced that the couple were expecting, with their daughter, Lia, born on February 26, 2019. They later divorced in August 2022.

Following her retirement, Hingis took up golf and has assisted her mother in running her tennis school, while also serving as a brand ambassador for several tennis companies and still competing in invitationals. "Just a little," she told Swiss Health Magazine a few years ago about her taking up golf. "I do a lot of things bit by bit, but what I will never give up on is horses and skiing. And although I have many worries ahead of me, connected with having a child, I will make no concessions.

"I simply cannot do it. Of course, tennis will remain in my life; it is the closest and simplest activity for me. It would be too hard and unnecessary to start some other career... but concerning different hobbies, why not? Well, in the meantime, I will help my mother run her tennis school. One of our mentees has already become the best player in Switzerland at the age of 13.

"It is a pleasure for me to watch them training and making progress. And when I advise them and it reaps rewards, they rejoice. And I'm happy." She continues to follow the current game closely and offered guidance to Emma Raducanu regarding the numerous coaching adjustments she has implemented since her 2021 US Open triumph. "If you have the right surroundings, I think that's also really important," she said.

"I never met her so I don't know exactly what goes through the head. It's incredible she was able to win the US Open and, all of the changes after that, I don't think it was a great choice to do. When you win with someone, you usually continue, but I can't judge what happened. It would be nice for her to find the way and to find her success again.

"She's got the shots, she's the whole package, but you still need the results. It's not like one day you win the US Open and then that's the rest of the life."