Tennis Frontier

Tag: retirement

  • Li Na Announces Retirement

    Li Na Announces Retirement

    Li Na

    Li Na, this year’s Australian Open champion and the winner of the 2011 French Open, announced her retirement on Friday via a post on her Facebook page. The 32-year-old, who was the first Chinese player to win a Major, cited worsening knee injuries as the reason for her decision.

    “After four knee surgeries and hundreds of shots injected into my knee weekly to alleviate swelling and pain, my body is begging me to stop the pounding. My previous three surgeries were on my right knee. My most recent knee surgery took place this July and was on my left knee. After a few weeks of post-surgery recovery, I tried to go through all the necessary steps to get back on the court. While I’ve come back from surgery in the past, this time it felt different. One of my goals was to recover as fast as I could in order to be ready for the first WTA tournament in my hometown of Wuhan. As hard as I tried to get back to being 100%, my body kept telling me that, at 32, I will not be able to compete at the top level ever again. The sport is just too competitive, too good, to not be 100%,” she wrote.

    Li had not played since her third-round loss at Wimbledon, and more recently pulled out of the US Open.

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    Cover Photo (Creative Commons License): Kulitat

  • David Nalbandian Retires from Tennis

    David Nalbandian Retires from Tennis

    David Nalbandian

    David Nalbandian has retired from the ATP Tour. The 31-year-old Argentine announced it at a press conference Tuesday, citing long-term injuries as the main reason.

    Nalbandian is a former world No. 3 who won 11 ATP singles titles and represented Argentina in three Davis Cup finals.  He also reached the semifinal of all four Majors, and won the runner-up trophy at the 2002 Wimbledon championships.

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    Cover Photo: Carine06 (Creative Commons License)

  • Marion Bartoli Retires from Tennis in Shock Announcement

    Marion Bartoli Retires from Tennis in Shock Announcement

    In a stunning announcement, recently crowned Wimbledon champion Marion Bartoli has announced that she is retiring from tennis.

    Bartoli broke the news on Wednesday evening after being defeated at the Cincinnati Open by Simona Halep. She lost the second round encounter 6-3, 4-6, 1-6.

    The seventh ranked player in the world put the retirement announcement down to playing with increased pain.

    “I have pain everywhere after 45 minutes or an hour of play. It’s just body wise I just can’t do it anymore.”

    She added, “Everyone will remember my Wimbledon title. No one will remember the last match I played here. That was probably the last little bit of something that was left inside me.”

    Her retirement starts with immediate effect and she will not be contesting the US Open or any remaining tournaments.

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  • “Tribute To Juan Carlos Ferrero” (From: Marca)

    “Tribute To Juan Carlos Ferrero” (From: Marca)

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    Translated from: “El Godó homenajea a Ferrero” (Marca, April 25, 2013)

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    It was just before the second game of Rafa Nadal’s match against  Benoit Paire at the Barcelona Open, tournament organizers paid tribute to the great clay courter Juan Carlos Ferrero, who shone in the early part of the century and lost in 2001 to Carlos Moya in one of the best French Open finals in recent times.

    Ferrero, who retired from official competition last October after his final tournament in Valencia, of which is now director, was presented with a crystal trophy by Albert Agustí, president of the Catalan club and Albert Costa, tournament director.

    ‘Juanqui’, retired with 16 titles under his belt, including the 2003 French Open.