Martina Hingis to retire from tennis after WTA Finals
World number one doubles player Martina Hingis has announced she will retire from tennis after the WTA Finals.
The Swiss, 37, originally retired as a 22-year old in 2003 and then again in 2007 after a brief comeback.
Returning in 2013, she won this year’s Wimbledon and US Open mixed doubles with Britain’s Jamie Murray, part of a total of 10 Grand Slam doubles crowns.
“It’s the right time for me. It’s better to stop at the peak and say I had a very good time,” Hingis said.
“The successes I’ve had over the past three years have been great and it’s going to be hard to beat. And my priorities change, too, of course.”
Hingis gained international recognition as a 16-year-old, becoming world number one and winning the Australian Open, Wimbledon and the US Open in 1997.
She went on to win a further two further Grand Slam singles titles, both of which were in Australia.
Retiring in 2003, Hingis said that a return to competition was “unforeseeable” and that she had “no plans to ever return.”
However, Hingis made a comeback on the singles circuit in 2006 before retiring for a second time a year later.
After being inducted into the International Tennis Hall of Fame, Hingis returned to the doubles circuit in 2013.
She has since brought her tally of career Grand Slam titles to 25.
Hingis and her doubles partner Chan Yung-jan play in the last eight of the WTA Finals in Singapore on Thursday.