“Body Just Doesn’t Cooperate”: 29-Year-Old Kiki Bertens Calls Retirement at the End of the Season

Published 06/16/2021, 10:40 AM EDT

After the French Open 2021 disappointment, the Dutch professional Kiki Bertens has announced unfortunate news. Notably, the 29-year-old will retire from professional tennis at the end of the 2021 season.

Without a doubt, the news has shocked the tennis community. However, given her personal struggles with injury, the decision seemed inevitable.

Nevertheless, Bertens won many fans over the course of her limited career. Also, tennis fans cannot forget her outstanding performance at Roland-Garros in 2016, reaching the semifinals.

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Kiki Bertens to retire after the end of 2021

It is no mystery that tennis is a brutal sport when it comes to injuries. Moreover, the constant need for exceptional physical fitness is hard to keep up.

About Kiki, she only underwent Achilles surgery earlier in 2021. Although she missed the start of the season, the Dutch professional marked her return at Qatar Open.

Concerningly, from Qatar to French Open, Bertens played five tournaments and lost all of them in the first round. Consequently, she has decided to quit professional tennis.

“I worked harder than ever, but my body just doesn’t cooperate. There were and are good days, but also days with a lot of pain,” Bertens said. It tells enough about how painful the decision must have been for the former World No.4.

Oh. Kiki Bertens is retiring in 2021. She is 29 https://t.co/DcTF1momIA
— José Morgado (@josemorgado) June 16, 2021

In her career so far, the 29-year-old won 20 WTA career titles, 10 in singles and doubles each. No doubt, fans hoped for her full recovery as much as she would have wanted.

Hopefully, before retirement, we might see the old magic from the Dutch’s hands again.

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Berten’s tennis career so far

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The right-handed Dutch professional has won 443 matches in her career so far. Her best Grand Slam results are the 2016 Roland-Garros semifinal and 2018 Wimbledon quarterfinals.

Chiefly, Bertens won her first WTA title almost a decade ago in 2012. Moreover, she was an excellent doubles player; she reached the Tour finals in doubles with Swedish professional Johanna Larsson.

Above all, she remains one of the most talented players on the women’s tour. But at the same time, her early retirement is a hard pill to swallow.

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Nonetheless, fans would wish her larger-than-life second innings of life. Best of Luck, Kiki Bertens!

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Written by:

Purav Joshi is a Tennis author at EssentiallySports. Having a degree in Films, Television and Media Production, he guided his passion for writing and journalism into the sport of aces and rallies. With over 2 years of experience as a copywriter, Purav has authored over 500 tennis articles.

“Body Just Doesn’t Cooperate”: 29-Year-Old Kiki Bertens Calls Retirement at the End of the Season

Kiki Bertens to retire after the end of 2021

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Berten’s tennis career so far