Hingis may miss Wimbledon due to injury

Martina Hingis could miss Wimbledon, as well as the French Open, as the former world number one will need at least two months to recuperate from an operation set for Monday, Swiss media reported on Saturday.

Hingis faces a one-hour operation in a Zurich clinic on Monday to fix injuries causing pain and inflammation in her left foot, ankle and leg.

Swiss Blick newspaper, quoting Hingis's doctor Heinz Buehlmann, said Hingis would be able to play tennis again in two to three months.

"I believe the chances for recovery are good," Buehlmann told Blick.

But the time needed to recover would likely extend past June 24 when Wimbledon starts. Hingis said on Friday she would miss the French Open, which begins on May 27.

Hingis's absence will mark the first time she has missed a grand slam event since she turned professional in October 1994.

Buehlmann told Blick that the injuries were "a complex thing. The key thing is how the inflammation goes down".

He added that he wanted to do the operation on Monday, a holiday in Switzerland, to give him sufficient time to look after Hingis.

"Martina was naturally sad but she took the decision like a professional," he said. Swiss papers said the treatment would include fixing a heel spur, a bony growth on the underside of the heel bone.

Hingis is still involved in a legal battle with shoe manufacturers Sergio Tacchini, after alleging their shoes damaged her feet. The 21-year-old Hingis wore the shoes from when she was 11 until around three years ago.

But Hingis's Swiss manager Mario Widmer was quoted in Saturday's Tages-Anzeiger newspaper as saying that it was too soon to talk of an end to her career.

Widmer called such speculation "not only premature at the present moment but also completely exaggerated".