Post-Retirement Careers in the Tennis World

Tracy Austin of the USA, the holder of the title of the youngest tennis player who was just 16 years old when she reached the top at the 1979 US Open and lifted the trophy at this tournament, had to end her career when she was 21 years old due to a serious traffic accident.

Gabriela Sabatini of Argentina, who won the only grand slam singles title of her career again at the US Open in 1990, also made the decision to leave tennis when she was just 26 years old due to serious injuries she suffered.

Serbian tennis player Ana Ivanovic, who rose to number one in the women’s world rankings in 2008, announced her farewell to the courts in the last week of 2016 at the age of 29.

The last name added to the ring of retirement decision taken by many world-famous star athletes at an early age for reasons such as mental strain, disability, satiation of success, was the Australian tennis player Barty.

Barty, who carried the summit flag that she inherited from one of the legends of tennis, Serena Williams of the USA, with stability for a long period and showed that she was in shape by winning the first grand slam tournament of the season, the Australian Open, stunned her fans and sports fans by quitting tennis with a sudden decision.

Barty, who has won the women’s singles grand slam title 3 times with her 2019 French Open and 2021 Wimbledon victories as well as the Australian Open, and has been ranked first in the Women’s Tennis Association (WTA) world rankings for 120 weeks, stressed that she left this sport “proud and satisfied” and made a decision in this direction in order to realize other dreams.

There are many world famous tennis players who share the same decision as Ashleigh Barty. One of the prominent names among these tennis players is the Swedish former star Björn Borg, who made his mark on this sport especially in the 1970s.

Borg, who won the Wimbledon championship 5 times in a row between 1976 and 1980 and Decamped from 11 grand slam tournaments with a victory, was just 26 years old when he decided to retire.

Borg, whose contentious rivalry with the American John McEnroe was the subject of many films and documentaries at that time, decided to hang up his racket on the grounds that he was mentally challenged at a time when he was at the top of tennis, where he started as a professional at an early age.

Borg, who said that he was emotionally detached from tennis at that time and that his heart did not beat for this sport, continued his career as an important businessman in the fashion industry. The 65-year-old former tennis player is currently a tennis commentator.

Martina Hingis, the holder of the first Swiss tennis player titles to win a grand slam in women’s singles and reach the top of the world rankings, said goodbye to this sport in 2003 at the age of just 22, when she was at the peak of her career.

Hingis decided to hang up her racket due to the serious injuries she suffered, and although she gave up this decision in 2005 and started tennis again, she could not return to her former successful days.