Martina Hingis competes again

Former tennis babe Martina Hingis is back on the court again, but this time with more lights and without grass and clay.

The former Women’s No.1 tennis player will take to the dance floor tonight in BBC Channel 1′s Celebrity Come Dancing.  She will vie for the win against 16 contestants.

Aside from Hingis, the celebrities include boxer Joe Calzaghe, TV presenters Rav Wilding and Chis Hollins, and Rolling Stone guitarist Ronnie Wood’s ex-wife Jo Wood.

The show will clash heads on Saturday with another reality TV show — X Factor of ITV.  The show headlines Simon Cowel, Louie Walsh, Danni Minogue and Cherry Cole.

Martina Hingis ruled women’s tennis in the late 1990s and became the youngest world No.1 at 17 in 1997.  She spent a total of 209 weeks on the top spot until injury to her ankles forced her to retire from tennis at 22.

She returned to the tour in 2006 and climbed to No.6 by winning three Singles titles.  She was forced to retire permanently from tennis after being tested positive for cocaine in Wimbledon in 2008.  She denied using the drug and has been off the limelight until she was named to be of the contestants in the highly-rated dancing show.

[via bbc.co.uk]