In this ongoing series about the most significant retirements of 2016, we already covered basketball and soccer. Now let’s take a look at two amazing players that decided to leave competitive tennis behind :
Ana Ivanovic
The Serbian tennis star Ana Ivanovic has decided to retire at just 29.
Ivanovic, who in 2008 became the women’s number one player in the world announced on December 28 through her Facebook account that she decided to retire from competitive tennis because injuries have hampered her lately and she can’t perform any longer up to her own high standards
Ivanovic started playing when she was five years old and through her career she was able to win 15 WTA tour singles titles (including the 2008 French Open), played three Grand Slam Finals and the Fed Cup final.
In 2016, Ivanovic had a 15-16 record, lost six first-round matches and did not win a WTA title. As a result, she finished outside the Top 25 for the first time since 2004 and is currently ranked No. 63 in the world by the WTA.
Ivanovic is married to German soccer player Bastian Schweinsteiger, who plays for Manchester United.
Lleyton Hewitt
The Australian became the world’s number 1 for 80 weeks between 2001 and 2003. With a career record of 616 wins and 262 losses Hewitt had a winning percentage of 70.16, which at the time made him a real force to be reckoned with.
Now, the 34-year-old walks away with 30 titles in his pocket, including two Grand Slam tournaments (2001 U.S Open and 2002 Wimbledon).
A two-time Davis Cup winner (1999, 2003) he will now use that experience to continue to be involved with the sports, as he will now become the captain of the Australian Davis Cup team.
