"I have been accused by an outsource testing company of taking cocaine...I find this accusation so horrendous, so monstrous, that I have decided to confront it head-on," Hingis, the winner of five Grand Slam titles, said, fighting back tears.

"I believe that I am absolutely, 100 percent innocent. (But) accusations such as these don't exactly provide me with motivation... I have decided to no longer play tennis on the Tour."

It proved to be an inglorious end to a journey that had begun 27 years ago when Hingis's parents named her after tennis great Martina Navratilova.

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