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Martina Hingis to have surgery

ZURICH, Switzerland, Oct. 14 (UPI) -- Martina Hingis will undergo surgery Monday on torn ligaments in her right ankle and will be sidelined six to eight weeks, her official website stated Sunday.

Already having lost her 73-week hold on the No. 1 world ranking to Jennifer Capriati, the Swiss star likely be unable to end the year as the top-ranked player. She has earned that honor three of the last four years.

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Hingis suffered the injury Saturday after just 20 minutes of her semifinal encounter with Lindsay Davenport at the Porsche Tennis Grand Prix at Filderstadt, Germany.

After having an MRI on Saturday, Hingis received the surgery recommendation from Dr. Heinz Buhlmann. That prompted her withdrawl from this week's Swisscom Challenge at Zurich, where she won the title a year ago.

Hingis also will not defend her title at the $3 million Tour Championships at Munich, which begins Oct. 29.

The 21-year-old collected this year's adidas International, Qatar Open and Dubai Open crowns to increase her career haul to 38 WTA titles.

However, Hingis still has not won a Grand Slam event since January 1999, when she lifted the Australian Open trophy for the third straight year.

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