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 Her voice breaking, her eyes moist, Hingis read from a prepared statement Thursday at a news conference in Switzerland, then departed without taking questions.
"I find this accusation so horrendous, so monstrous," the 27-year-old Hingis' statement said, "that I have decided to confront it head-on by talking to the press."
What she decided not to do is fight the doping case, saying it could drag on for too long.
"I am frustrated and angry. I believe that I am absolutely, 100 percent innocent," read Hingis' statement, released by her management.
It concluded with the vow: "I have never taken drugs."
WTA Tour chief executive Larry Scott said he recently found out about Hingis' doping test from the player's representatives
-- word had not reached him through official channels because it's an ongoing case in which a hearing has yet to be held.
Scott expects the case to continue, even if Hingis is walking away from the sport she once ruled.
"Like a lot of Martina's fans and friends and colleagues, (I am) saddened," Scott said in a telephone interview. "She's a great legend, one of the most well-liked players on the tour. But at the same time, I'm ... also mindful that the player has to be given the presumption of innocence until the process plays out until the end."
Hingis tested positive June 29, the day she was upset in straight sets by Laura Granville of the United States in the third round at Wimbledon. That was her first tournament after missing 1 1/2 months with hip and back injuries.
"I just didn't want to miss Wimbledon," Hingis said at the time. "Probably at the end of the day, it wasn't, like, the smartest thing."
Although doping charges usually are announced by a sports league or event, athletes first are told if a sample tests positive. A second, backup sample then is tested. Mario Widmer, Hingis' manager, said she learned of the first positive test result in mid-September and the second two or three weeks later.
Hingis said she hired an attorney who found "various inconsistencies" with the urine sample from Wimbledon.
"He is also convinced that the doping officials mishandled the process and would not be able to prove that the urine that was tested for cocaine actually came from me," she said.
Tennis doping tests are handled by an independent agency, Sweden-based International Doping Tests & Management, Scott said.
Doping expert Dr. Gary Wadler said urine tests generally can detect cocaine up to five or six days after its use.
"They say that cocaine increases self-confidence and creates a type of euphoria. I don't know," Hingis said. "I only know that if I were to try to hit the ball while in any state of euphoria, it simply wouldn't work. I would think that it would be impossible for anyone to maintain the coordination required to play top class tennis while under the influence of drugs."
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Wadler, who used to be the U.S. Open's head doctor, said that although cocaine is generally not thought of as a performance-enhancing drug, it theoretically could help.
"The acute effects of cocaine probably, overall, would impair and not enhance performance. But within a two-hour window, you may actually have some enhancement
-- overcoming fatigue, reaction time, and so on," said Wadler, an associate professor of medicine at New York University and a member of the World Anti-Doping Agency.
Hingis said her family and management suggested she take a test that examines a person's hair to check for cocaine use and the result was negative, although she didn't say when or where she was tested. Wadler said hair tests usually are not used in sports because they don't necessarily show recent drug use.
In tennis, a first offense for cocaine draws a two-year suspension. Only one woman has been suspended by the WTA because of that drug: Lourdes Dominguez Lino of Spain in 2002.
Thursday's out-of-nowhere announcement is not the first time Hingis left tennis, although the circumstances were far different in 2002, when she quit because of a series of foot and leg injuries.
When she returned to the circuit full-time in 2006, Hingis reached two Grand Slam quarterfinals, won two smaller tournaments and finished the year ranked No. 7.
This season was more difficult, and she was ranked No. 19 this week.
At the height of her powers, Hingis was brilliant at controlling points and working every angle on a court. Nicknamed "The Swiss Miss," she became the youngest major champion of the 20th century when she won the 1997 Australian Open at 16, and later that year reached No. 1.
She went on to win Wimbledon and the U.S. Open that season, too, coming within a loss in the French Open final of a calendar-year Grand Slam.
"My weapon on the tennis court is and always was one single thing: the game, the ingenuity on court," Hingis said. "And for this style of tennis, there is only one performance enhancer
-- the love of the game."
[Associated Press; By HOWARD FENDRICH]
Associated Press Writer Sheila Norman-Culp in Switzerland contributed to this report.
Copyright 2007 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This
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