Monday, 7 January, 2008

Two-time grand slam champion Maria Sharapova admitted she was surprised to see childhood idol Martina Hingis handed a two-year ban following a doping offence.

Hingis tested positive for cocaine following her defeat by Laura Granville at Wimbledon last year and on Friday was handed the ban by the International Tennis Federation.

And Sharapova had nothing but praise for the Swiss star, saying: "Martina has always been super nice to me. It is definitely sad to see as to this day I think she is an incredible champion and in front of my eyes she has always been an incredibly hard worker from spending extra hours on the court to extra time in the gym."

She added: "She has been one of the toughest examples, especially when I was growing up, to see the work ethic she put in to what she did was incredible.

"I think it is just as surprising to me as it is to anyone else."

The 27-year-old, who spent three years away from the sport before returning in 2006, retired from tennis last November after revealing she had tested positive.

The former world number one and five-time grand slam winner returned a positive result from a routine urine sample following the defeat by Granville, but has previously insisted she was "100% innocent".

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