(Agencies)
Updated: 2007-11-03 11:38

Details of Martina Hingis's positive dope test at Wimbledon this year might never be revealed if an anti-doping tribunal rules in her favor, the International Tennis Federation (ITF) said Friday.

Former world number one tennis player Martina Hingis of Switzerland speaks during a news conference where she announced her retirement in Zurich, November 1, 2007.  [Agencies]

The former world No. 1 Hingis announced her retirement from professional tennis after saying she had tested positive for cocaine, though she denied taking the drug.

The five-time grand slam champion from Switzerland said: "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."

Hingis said she found the accusation "so horrendous, so monstrous, that I have decided to confront it head-on by talking to the press."

The London-based ITF is in charge of administering dope tests and a spokesman explained yesterday that the organization's rules prohibited comment on or publication of a positive test until any subsequent appeals had run their course.

Unlike in athletics, where officials release a name as soon A and B samples have been analyzed even if the athlete maintains his or her innocence, the ITF publishes details only after a player has been to an anti-doping tribunal and lost the case.

If the tribunal finds in the player's favor then details of the positive tests are never revealed.

Hingis jumped the gun on that process on Thursday after she said her lawyers advised her that the fight to prove her innocence could go on for years.

The 27-year-old said her legal representative had discovered various inconsistencies with the urine sample taken during Wimbledon and felt that doping officials mishandled the process. Her voice broke as she fought back tears in reading the statement. At the end, she took no questions and left the news conference.

The 27-year-old Swiss player lost in the third round at Wimbledon.

Hingis returned to the sport two years ago after a four-year absence because of injuries. She won three straight Australian Open titles from 1997-99, and Wimbledon and the US Open championships in 1997. She came within one match of winning the grand slam in 1997, losing only in the French Open final.