Hingis shocked in final match

Martina Hingis's glittering career came to a sudden end on Saturday when she suffered a shock doubles defeat at the WTA Finals -- her last tournament before retiring.

Hingis and Taiwan's Chan Yung-Jan, the world's top pairing and reigning US Open champions, were beaten by third-ranked Timea Babos and Andrea Hlavackova 6-4, 7-6 (7/5) in the Singapore semi-finals.

It ended a 19-match winning streak for Hingis and Chan -- and halted one of the great careers in tennis. Hingis admitted it was a "disappointing" way to bow out but said she had no regrets about her stellar career.

"I'm sure we both wish for a better ending and, you know, winning the trophy," she told reporters after the match. "They were just too good today.

"I don't think I have any regrets. I think it's been an amazing journey and amazing career that I can be proud of. I'll definitely miss it at some point in my life."

Hingis won five Grand Slam singles titles after she emerged as a teenage prodigy in the 1990s, and later found success as a specialist in doubles, in which she has a further 20 major wins.

The "Swiss Miss", now 37, has retired twice before -- once after testing positive for a metabolite of cocaine -- but she said it was "definite" this time.

"I think now it's definite. It's different, because before I walked away thinking I might come back," she told reporters on Thursday. "After a season like this, I think it's also perfect timing. You know, you want to stop on top and not when you're already going backwards."