Hingis' strange decision

And this is the reason for my announcement. I have no

desire to spend the next several years of my life reduced to

fighting against the doping officials.

I am frustrated and angry. I believe that I am absolutely 100 per cent innocent. The fact is that it is more and more difficult for me, physically, to keep playing at the top of the game. And frankly, accusations such as these don’t exactly provide me with motivation to even make another attempt to do so.

- Martina Hingis

I have been shocked by the news about Hingis. I am not rushing to any judgments regarding her guilt and alleged cocaine usage at Wimbledon, but I have been thinking about the point she has made by pro-actively coming out with the news. While the WTA and other sporting bodies maintain that any athletes accused of drug related charges are innocent until proven guilty, the fact of the matter is that the media starts a trial as soon as the information is "leaked". Speculation and a leaning toward the worst case scenarios are often used by the media.

I believe, as do a few others, that Hingis has made a statement against the existing, long drawn appeals process by coming out with the news of her cocaine test herself. The process is crowded in mystery, which often gives some mystery European official crave the spotlight by "leaking" the news. However, I believe that she was wrong to retire. She could have made a bigger statement by coming out and continuing to play at the same time. There could be bigger factors at play that we dont know about, such as low levels of motivation, frustration from injuries, lack of major titles after her return to tennis or her breakup with Stepanek.

She is also not the first high profile athlete to be suspected of cocaine usage. As this article in the Montreal Gazette explains, Mats Wilander and Karl Novacek tested positive for cocaine usage in 1995. Wilander was a former number 1 while Novacek was a former top 10 player. They both received a 3 month ban and then returned to the game. Now its a 2 years ban for the same offense. Interestingly, cocaine is not a performance enhancing drug. This article explains that cocaine has a harmful physical impact on athletes which include seizures and even sudden death. That and the fact that athletes are public figures and role models makes cocaine and sports a bad combination (or anything else for that matter). However cocaine is not a performance enhancing drug, which makes you wonder if cocaine usage in sport should carry the same punishment as performance enhancing ones.

I feel for Hingis - I really do. But regardless of whether she is guilty or innocent, I think she took the short (though courageous) route out. A two year ban and the lengthy testing and appeals process probably influenced her hasty decision. I would still love to see her on the court :) The WTA also needs to do some thinking about the testing process and doping punishments.

What do you think?