Today, September 30, Martina Hingis is celebrating the final day of her two-year drug suspension, as well as her 29th birthday.

The former world No.1 discusses the ban for Sports Illustrated, how she dealt with the accusation, and once again claims she has never taken cocaine.

SI.com: From an emotional standpoint, how do feel you've handled the past two years?

Hingis: OK. There were hard times and it was frustrating knowing I did nothing wrong but couldn't really fight this. It was my reputation and I knew the truth. But the process didn't really let me fight.

SI.com: Given your outspoken personality, I think it surprised a lot of people that maybe you weren't as forceful, deciding, for instance, not to appeal. Do you regret that?

Hingis: Like you say, I always spoke [honestly] even if I wasn't always politically correct. I spoke the truth even when the truth may have hurt me. But the system was set up in such a way that there was nothing I could do.

SI.com: Bottom line: have you ever …

Hingis: No. Taken cocaine? Never. No [recreational] drugs. I don't know even the effects. I've maybe been in a position where I could have. But never, no. If I had ever taken cocaine, I would have said so.

SI.com: Before this happened, did you ever worry about a situation like this?

Hingis: No, because I probably had between 80-100 tests and no problems. The only thing I would ever take was aspirin and I was very particular about these things. Even if I had a flu I'd call my doctor and say, "What can I take?" I was always very cautious. I never took anything that was not approved first. (via Down the Line, photo: Life.com)

Share This

Jelena Jankovic and Victoria Azarenka were the only Top 8 seeds not to have fallen in the first two rounds of the Pan Pacific Open in Tokyo and on Wednesday they went through to the quarterfinals. Maria Sharapova also advanced to the last eight.

The seventh-seeded Jankovic won her third-round match when Elena Vesnina retired with a left thigh injury while trailing 6-1 3-0. The eighth-seeded Azarenka beat Lucie Safarova 7-5 6-4 in the last match of the day.

The 2005 Toray Pan Pacific Open champion Sharapova once again played a three-setter against fellow Russian Alisa Kleybanova, fighting back from a first-set loss to win 2-6 6-2 6-2. (photo: Ralf Reinecke)

Share This

Li Na has signed with IMG, the leading client management company in tennis, and has thus joined IMG’s top clients including women’s tennis superstars such as Maria Sharapova, Venus Williams, Lindsay Davenport, Jelena Jankovic, Monica Seles, and others.

"We are very pleased to have Li Na as an IMG client," said Max Eisenbud, IMG senior vice president who will manage the Chinese world No.16.

"She has been one of the most successful players in China’s history and in 2009 became Asia and China’s No. 1 player with a world ranking of No. 18. She has been largely hailed as being instrumental in advancing the sport within China." (source: On the Baseline, photo via Sony Ericsson WTA Tour)

Share This

Venus and Serena Williams have for the first time in their doubles career qualified for the doubles event at the Sony Ericsson Championships.

"I love playing doubles with Venus as we have so much fun on the court. This year, we actually decided to put more emphasis on our doubles careers and going to Doha has been on our mind all season," said Serena, who has already qualified for the singles event at the season-ending Championships.

During the 2009 season the Williams sisters have won three Grand Slam doubles titles (Australian Open, Wimbledon, US Open) and a title at the Bank of the West Classic in Stanford.

The world’s top eight singles players and top four doubles teams from the 2009 Sony Ericsson WTA Tour season will compete for a share of the record $4.55 million at the Sony Ericsson Championships in Doha, Qatar. (source: On the Baseline, photo via Sony Ericsson WTA Tour)

Share This

Now we can stop counting… Elena Dementieva of Russia and Caroline Wozniacki of Denmark have quickly joined a bunch of top players in their early Pan Pacific Open exit.

Third seed Elena Dementieva was beaten 6-2 6-7(3) 6-1 by Kateryna Bondarenko in the second round, and was soon after accompanied by fourth-seeded Caroline Wozniacki, who retired due to a viral infection, while trailing Aleksandra Wozniak 0-5 in the first set.

Dementieva had never in their four previous encounters lost a set to Kateryna Bondarenko, and she blamed bad line calls and fatigue for the outcome of today's match.

"There were way too many bad calls from the chair umpire today," said the Russian. "I'm surprised they don't have a challenge system at such a big event."

During the Pan Pacific Open here on Women’s Tennis Blog we just mentioned the numerous upsets. This time, we should give some well-deserved attention to Maria Sharapova, who almost double-bageled Samantha Stosur to enter the last 16. Stosur saved two match points at 0-5 in the second set, and lost 6-0 6-1.

Note: Just one Top 10 player, Serena Williams, didn’t enter the $2 million Tokyo event, and only two of the nine that entered the tournament have reached the third round – Jelena Jankovic and Victoria Azarenka. (source: Reuters, photo courtesy of Women Who Serve)

Share This