Former world No.1 Martina Hingis and ATP Tour player Radek Stepanek have ended their engagement.

"Radek asked me to pass on a message announcing that he and Martina Hingis have split up but will remain good friends -- and that's all he has to say," spokesman Stephen Duckitt said shortly after Stepanek's semi-final loss to top-seed Roger Federer at the Rogers Cup on Saturday.

The reason for the split-up was not disclosed by Stepanek's camp. Meanwhile, there is still no official comment from Hingis who, by the way, recently rose a notch higher in world ranking to No.12.

'Only time will tell how Hingis will come out from this personal issue she is currently facing'


It was only last December that Hingis announced her engagement to Stepanek, who was formerly ranked in the top 10 by the ATP. At first the Slovak-born Hingis preferred to keep things private. However, when she was spotted wearing a diamond engagement ring during a practice session in Australia, she happily announced their engagement to the press.

Where does the Swiss Miss go from here? She has already withdrawn from next week's WTA event in Toronto due to back problems while Stepanek has successfully come back from a nerve injury affecting his hand, winning 12 of 14 matches before losing to Federer.

With the break-up out in the open, tennis fans could only doubt the sincerity of Hingis' back injury. It could be that her withdrawal from Toronto is to give her time to heal a more important "emotional injury", as well as to buy time with the press and finally issue her official stand.

Only time will tell how Hingis will come out from this personal issue she is currently facing. We can only hope that she can use these unforeseen events as an ingredient to focus more and set her priorities straight.