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Tennis Players Who Retired in 2019

Published 11/18/2019, 2:58 PM EST

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As the 2019 tennis season curtains down, tennis players will be planning to catch some rays and prepare for the next season, but a few of the talented professionals of the sport will be joining the list of retired tennis players and will no longer compete on the professional tennis courts.

Tomas Berdych

The Czech tennis player, Tomas Berdych’s retirement news was floated during the week of ATP World Tour Finals 2019. This year, the former Wimbledon finalist, Berdych skipped a series of tournaments pertaining to his injuries. He reached the finals at Qatar Open as an unseeded contestant and fell to the seventh seed, Roberto Bautista Agut in the title-match.

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Former World Number four, Berdych last won a match in Winston-Salem and he played his last professional match on the courts of US Open this year and he officially retired from tennis on London’s O2 Arena.

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His retirement news was untimely published by the Czech media and Berdych wanted it to be a surprise for the tennis fraternity.

David Ferrer

The former French Open finalist, David Ferrer hung his boots this year after serving the ATP Tour for 19 long years. After losing to Alexander Zverev on his home turf of Madrid, Ferrer bid goodbye to the sport.

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“I never won Madrid. I never won Roland-Garros. I never won some tournaments I would’ve loved to win. I have my trophies at home, they’re just trophies, material. What I really take with me is the love you’ve shown me. Thank you so much. Always in my heart.”  These were David Ferrer’s final words on Madrid’s Caja Magica as a professional tennis player.

Now, he has been appointed as the tournament director at the Barcelona Open.

Know More – David Ferrer Named as New Tournament Director of Barcelona Open

Marcos Baghdatis

Another legend tennis player, Marcos Baghdatis hit the sack in 2019. The Australian Open 2006 finalist, Baghdatis scheduled his retirement from the sport at Wimbledon 2019.

The sole heir of Cyprus tennis, Baghdatis concluded his 15-year tenure on the ATP circuit after losing to Matteo Berrettini. In 2010, he was the only player to defeat Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal while they were ranked number one in the world. 

Nicolas Almagro

The Spaniard, Nicolas Almagro retired on the courts of his hometown in Murcia, Spain. The 2013 Australian Open quarterfinalist, Almagro has been battling physical problems that have obstructed him to perform on the ATP circuit.

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He was a three-time quarterfinalist at Roland Garros each time he lost to the eventual champion and his compatriot, Rafael Nadal. During the Barcelona Open 2014, Nicolas Almagro snapped Nadal’s 41-match winning streak. It was his first victory over his compatriot, Nadal after meeting him 11 times in his career. 

Janko Tipsarevic

The Serbian, Janko Tipsarevic hung his racquets in a dramatic manner. In his last match on the ATP circuit, he saved a string of nine matches points against the Japanese tennis player, Yuichi Sugita at Intrum Stockholm Open 2019 and put up a great before setting his racquets aside.

“If I were to choose one of the ways to finish my career, it would be like this, leaving everything on the court,” Tipsarevic said in his on-court interview after the match. “I will remember this moment for the rest of my life.”

Dominika Cibulkova

The Slovakian tennis player, Cibulkova broke her retirement news at the debut signing of her book “Tennis Is My Life”. The Slovakian star lost to Aryna Sabalenka in the opening round of Roland Garros 2019, since then she did not play a professional match.

“My last match was at Roland Garros. I wanted to take time to find out how I feel about it, and I feel that today is the perfect day to do it. I’ve thought about it for a long time and I’m excited about my new life,” she announced. She also penned an emotional post on Instagram. 

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Today, with mixed feelings, I have special news to share with you all. As you know I haven’t been playing tournaments for several months. What started as a recurring Achilles injury, developed into one of the most difficult moments in my life – deciding on what to do with my tennis career. After a lot of thinking, talks, and support from my family, friends, and my team, I have finally decided that I will not be returning to the courts as a competitive player. It is a moment filled with so many feelings – saddness, fear of the unknown, but also excitement of what life will bring in the future. I was one of the luckiest kids to stumble upon the road of a tennis player thanks to my wonderful parents and I will be forever grateful for their unconditional support. They did everything possible to keep me moving forward no matter how big the obstacles that stood in the way. I was also very fortunate to have a whole « village » of wonderful people around me who helped shape my career and help me achieve goals and dreams that children dream about. I am chosing today as the day I announce my retirement from tennis because this is also a day on which my biography is being launched with all of the details about my career. Writing the book was a journey on its own because it also brought lots of emotions and took a significant effort to open up about my personal life. I am honored to share this special book with all my fans. I am looking forward to step into the next part of my life and take on new challenges, spend happy times with my family, friends, making new friends, visiting new places, and making new memories. I will miss the support of my fans on the tennis court but will never forget you because tennis will always be a part of me. Pomeeee 😉 New chapter begins now…. ❤️

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Lucie Safarova

The former French Open finalist, Safarova scheduled her retirement on her home turf of Prague Open, but leading to the opening round defeat in the Czech capital, where she was in tandem with Barbora Stefkova in the doubles discipline, Safarova finally called off her career at French Open 2019.

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The former French Open finalist, Safarova received a see off on the Court Phillippe Chatrier. “This truly is the most favorite court on earth for me. So many special memories,” a teary Safarova said. “[The WTA] has been like a family these last 15 years. Thank you Paris, I love you.”

Marcin Matkowski

Former World Number seven, Marcin Matkowski retired from tennis at the age of 38. Matkowski has won a total of 18 doubles titles in his career.

Victor Estrella Burgos

The tennis player from the Dominican Republic, Víctor Estrella Burgos is one of the retired tennis players in 2019. He won three titles in his career and all of them were achieved in Ecuador at Ecuador Open 2015, 2016 and 2017.

Katerina Kramperova

The ITF tennis Player, Kramperova announced retirement from professional tennis in July this year.

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Arantxa Parra Santonja

The Spanish tennis player with 11 doubles title, Parra Santonja joined the list of retired tennis players in 2019. She reached the career-high singles ranking of World Number 46 and she held her career-high doubles ranking of World Number 22.

Lilia Osterloh Snape

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The American tennis player, Osterloh Snape announced her retirement from tennis at the age of 41. At US Open 2000 she reached the fourth round and her career-high doubles ranking is World Number 77.

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Mahalakshmi Murali

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Mahalakshmi Murali joined EssentiallySports in 2018 as a tennis author and has gone on to pen more than 1800 engaging articles, probing into various aspects of the sport and its illustrious players. With her expertise on the sport, Mahalakshmi has interviewed stalwarts from the sport such as Serena WIlliams’ coach Patrick Mouratoglou and Kevin Anderson’s physio, Carlos Costa. Equipped with her vast experience and a keen understanding of the sport, Mahalakshmi now co-heads the tennis department.
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