Hingis to miss Wimbledon

Martina Hingis will undergo an operation on her injured left foot next Monday and is certain to miss Wimbledon as well as the French Open.

Martina Hingis will undergo an operation on her injured left foot next Monday and is certain to miss Wimbledon as well as the French Open. As for the 21-year-old former world No1's future in the sport, however, her personal adviser, Mario Widmer, said last night: "The speculation about that is not only premature but very much exaggerated."

The decision to have surgery follows scans on Hingis' foot. She has already missed two tournaments, the German Open and the Italian Open. She had similar problems with her left foot three years ago but it responded to rest. This time, however, inflammation in the heel is causing particular concern, and she will have an operation to ease that before further work is done to repair ligament damage.

Since winning her fifth Grand Slam singles title at the 1999 Australian Open, the Swiss player has found it increasingly difficult to counter the power of her major rivals, even though her intelligent play and touch game is superior.

Born in the Slovak Republic, Hingis moved to Trubbach, Switzerland, aged seven, with her mother, Melanie Molitor, who is also her coach. At the age of 12, Hingis became the youngest player ever to win a junior singles title at the French Open. She successfully defended the girls' title in Paris and won the Wimbledon junior singles championship.

She turned professional in 1994, aged 14, and went on to become the youngest ever Wimbledon champion (15 years and 282 days) after winning the 1996 women's doubles title with Helena Sukova, of the Czech Republic. In January 1997 she became the youngest Grand Slam champion of the 20th century by winning the Australian Open, and the following July, aged 16, she became the youngest Wimbledon singles champion since Lottie Dod in 1887.

She has yet to win the French Open and has had mixed fortunes at Wimbledon, losing to Jelena Dokic, of Yugoslavia, in the first round in 1999, and also losing her opening match last year to Virginia Ruano Pascual, of Spain. Hingis came into the championships with a back injury caused in practice. Last June, Hingis filed an ongoing $40m (£27.4) lawsuit against the Italian sportswear manufacturer Sergio Tacchini, with whom she had a sponsorship deal. Hingis said she had been provided with "defective" shoes, "unsuitable for competition", forcing her to withdraw from several tournaments. Sergio Tacchini said the claims had been made only so Hingis could avoid paying damages for breaching her contract with the company.

Dr Hinz Beuhlmann, Hingis' physician, has voiced concern about the long-term effects of her foot problem. "We have to see how far the inflammation in the joints has already led to arthrosis," he said.