Britain’s Konta announces tennis retirement

Tennis

Britain’s Johanna Konta has announced her retirement from professional tennis.

The former World No. 4, who was the first British woman to reach the Wimbledon semifinals in 39 years in 2017, made the announcement on Wednesday on social media.

Konta said in a statement she was “grateful” for her career in tennis.

“Grateful. This is a word that I’ve probably used the most during my career, and this is the word that I feel explains it best at the end,” she said.

“My playing career has come to an end and I am so incredibly grateful for the career that it turned out to be.”

Konta has been named the most successful British women’s player of the past 20 years, reaching three grand slam semifinals, as well as winning the Miami Open in 2017, and representing Britain in the Fed Cup.

The 30-year-old, who was born in Australia to Hungarian parents before moving to the UK in 2005, struggled for form and battled injuries across the past two seasons, dropping to 113th in the world rankings.

However, in 2021 she came back into form and went on to win the WTA title in Nottingham.

The statement continued: “All the evidence pointed to me not ‘making’ it in this profession. However my luck materialised in the people that came into my life and impacted my existence in ways that transcended tennis.

“I am so incredibly grateful for these people, you know who you are. Through my own resilience and through the guidance from others, I got to live my dreams. I got to become what I wanted and said as a child.

“How incredibly fortunate I count myself to be. How grateful I am.”

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