NEW YORK, Nov 10 (Reuters/ Internet): At a point in the long tennis when most ayers are looking forward to some time off.

Martina Hingis is rested and ready to recapture the world number one ranking.

'Everybodyj>ets tired at the end pQdie year. Now, I've had a month, off so I'm ready again." Hingis declared during a stop in

New York to promote the season-ending Chase Championships. ^hich begin, next week.

A spanned left ankle 'forced the Swiss teenager to pull out of last month's Zurich tournament. Hingis makes her return to competition this week in Philadelphia, where she will defend tne last of the 12 titles she won during her 1997 dream run.

"I'm in better shape." said Hingis, who spent her first week off indulging her other passion — riding horses. "I couldn't do anything else because of my ankle."

She has spent the past two weeks working out at the Bol-letieri academy in Bradenton, although her pale complexion reveals little lime spent in the Florida sunshine. [ was practising indoors." she explained. Tve been working on myself. The ankle is good and I'm in good shape now."

Hingis said she was excited about returning to the 16-player season finale at Madison Square Garden with a chance at reclaiming the number one ranking that she ceded to U.S. Open champion Lindsay Davenport last month.

"Whoever wins that is going to end up first." she said of her tussle for the top ranking with Davenport. "I've been there and I want to get back there."

This has been a very different sort of year for Hingis, who turned 18 on September 30.

After coming within one victory of a historic sweep of the four Grand Slam tournaments at the age of 16 and winning virtually every time she stepped on court in 1997. Hingis cam»-■•down to earth in 1998.

Although she has four titles, including the Australian Open, the Swiss teenager has not won a tournament since the Italian Open in early May.