Former world No 1 and a Danish professional tennis player, Caroline Wozniacki has announced she is retiring from tennis after next month’s Australian Open.
The 29-year-old will end her career at Melbourne, where she won her only Grand Slam in 2018, in order to focus on starting a family and travelling the world with her husband and former NBA player David Lee.
Sharing the shocking news to her fans on Instagram, Wozniacki, who last competed in October, when she reached the semi-finals of the China Open in Beijing, wrote:
I’ve played professionally since I was 15 years old. In that time I’ve experienced an amazing first chapter of my life. With 30 WTA singles titles, a world #1 ranking for 71 weeks, a WTA Finals victory, 3 Olympics, including carrying the flag for my native Denmark, and winning the 2018 Australian Open Grand slam championship, I’ve accomplished everything I could ever dream of on the court.
I’ve always told myself, when the time comes, that there are things away from tennis that I want to do more, then it’s time to be done. In recent months, I’ve realized that there is a lot more in life that I’d like to accomplish off the court.
Getting married to David was one of those goals and starting a family with him while continuing to travel the world and helping raise awareness about rheumatoid arthritis (project upcoming) are all passions of mine moving forward.
So with that, today I am announcing that I will be retiring from professional tennis after the Australian Open in January. This has nothing to do with my health and this isn’t a goodbye, I look forward to sharing my exciting journey ahead with all of you!
Finally, I want to thank with all my heart, the fans, my friends, my sponsors, my team, especially my father as my coach, my husband, and my family for decades of support! Without all of you I could have never have done this!
