1980: Born September 30, Kosice, Slovakia.

1984: Enters her first tennis tournament as a four-year-old.

1988: Moves with family to Switzerland and starts being coached by mother Melanie Molitor.

1993: Aged 12, becomes the youngest Grand Slam junior title winner at the French Open.

1994: Becomes youngest junior Wimbledon champion (13 years 276 days), wins Roland Garros junior title again and is a junior finalist at US Open.

October 14 - Turns professional two weeks after her 14th birthday. Ends the year ranked 87 in the world.

1995: Ends the year ranked 16.

1996: October - Breaks into the world’s top 10 and swiftly wins her first WTA Tour singles title at Filderstadt, beating three higher-ranked players - Aranxta Sanchez-Vicario, Anke Huber and Lindsay Davenport - along the way. Also wins at Oakland and ends the year ranked at number four.

1997: January - Wins her first Grand Slam title at the Australian Open, at 16 years, three months and 26 days the youngest player in the 20th century to win a Grand Slam singles title.

March - Becomes world No 1.

July - Becomes youngest player in the open era to win the singles title at Wimbledon, aged 16 years, nine months and five days and earns the nickname the ‘Swiss Miss’.

September - Wins US Open. As well as her three Grand Slam titles in 1997, she also wins nine other events on the WTA Tour.

1998: January - Becomes youngest player to successfully defend a Grand Slam title at 17 years, four months and one day when winning the Australian Open. Becomes only the fourth woman to win a doubles Grand Slam, winning the Australian Open with Mirjana Lucic and the French, Wimbledon and US Open titles with Jana Novotna.

July: Loses to Novotna in Wimbledon semi-final.

Adds the end-of-season Chase Championships to her three other titles in 1998 but loses No 1 ranking to Davenport.

1999: January - Successfully defends Australian Open title.

May: Loses to Steffi Graf in final of French Open, the only Grand Slam she has not yet won, and also loses her cool. Serves under-arm in final game.

Claims six other titles during the year and regains the world number one spot.

2000: Reaches the final in Australia, the semi-finals at Roland Garros and US Open and the quarter-finals at Wimbledon, the first time she has failed to win a Grand Slam in a season since 1996. Compensates by winning nine other titles, including the season-ending Chase Championship, and once again ends the year at number one.

2001: January - Beats both the Williams sisters, Venus and Serena, on her way to the final of the Australian Open against number 12 seed Jennifer Capriati - who she loses to in straight sets.

June - Beaten by Capriati again in French Open semi-final before being embarrassed 6-4, 6-2 by Virgina Ruano-Pascual - ranked 83 in the world - in first round at Wimbledon. Later takes five weeks off with a back injury before being beaten in the semi-finals at the US Open by Serena Williams.

2002: January - Returns after three months out with an Achilles injury to win her 39th career title in Sydney. She goes on to reach her sixth consecutive Australian Open final but is again beaten by Capriati despite holding four match points. Scores consolation win with Anna Kournikova in the doubles.

May - Withdraws from tournaments in Berlin and Rome with a foot strain. As a result she drops to number seven in the world rankings, her lowest position since November 1996. It later transpires she needs surgery to repair a torn ligament, ruling her out of the French Open and Wimbledon.

2003 - Announces her retirement from tennis due to persistent injury problems.

2005 - Plays first tour event since 2002, losing in the first round in Pattaya City.

November - Announces plans for full-time return to the sport in 2006.

2006 - Makes superb comeback, winning two titles and finishing the year ranked seventh in the world.

2007 - Reaches quarter-finals of Australian Open but misses French Open through injury and loses in the third round at Wimbledon.

November 1 - Makes shock announcement she has tested positive for cocaine at Wimbledon but strenuously denies taking the drug. Also announces her retirement for a second time.