MADRID – Two-time major champion Garbine Muguruza announced that she’s retiring from professional tennis at age 30 after an extended time away from the court.
“I feel that it is time to retire and open up a new chapter in my life,” the former world No. 1 Muguruza of Spain told a news conference in Madrid.
Muguruza beat Serena Williams in the 2016 French Open final and Venus Williams in the 2017 Wimbledon final, making her the only player to defeat each Williams sister in a Grand Slam title match.
The Spanish player earned 10 career titles and was also the runner-up at 2015 Wimbledon and the 2020 Australian Open.
She earned nearly $25 million in prize money – 13th on the all-time list – and finished with a win-loss record of 449-238.
Her last important victory was the 2021 ATP Finals.
“The word `retirement´ sounds very harsh to be because I am only 30 years old, but I have achieved so much since I started playing 25 years ago,” she said.
“I am proud of what I have achieved, for having stuck to reaching my goals even through the tough times,” Muguruza added according to AP.
Muguruza has not played since January 2023. In April that year, she announced she was extending her hiatus from playing and said, “Spending time with my family and friends (has) really been healthy and amazing.”
Born in Caracas to a Spanish father and Venezuelan mother, Muguruza moved to Barcelona when she was a child to continue her tennis training.
She became the first Spanish woman to lift a Grand Slam trophy since Arantxa Sánchez Vicario at the 1998 French Open.
Elsewhere, Elena Rybakina ended Iga Swiatek’s bid for a third title at the Porsche Tennis Grand Prix with a 6-3, 4-6, 6-3 victory in the semi-finals.
The 2-hour, 49-minute victory for Rybakina snapped Swiatek’s 10-match winning streak at the tournament, and ensures that a new champion will be crowned at the Porsche Arena.
“It was a very tough match, like always, against Iga,” Rybakina said after her latest win over the World No.1. “Really happy that I won on clay. Gives confidence, of course.”
In the final, Rybakina will face unseeded Ukrainian Marta Kostyuk. After coming through three straight three-set thrillers earlier in the week, Kostyuk grabbed a straight-sets win at last, toppling No.6 seed Marketa Vondrousova 7-6(2), 6-2.
Rybakina and Kostyuk have split their two previous meetings, which both came in 2023. Kostyuk won in three sets in Adelaide at the start of that year, but Rybakina exacted revenge with a straight-sets victory in the first round of that season’s US Open.
Rybakina has now beaten a World No.1 player on five occasions, and four of those have come against Swiatek.
The Kazakh is through to her fifth final of the season, and hopes to add a winner’s trophy in Stuttgart to triumphs in Adelaide and Abu Dhabi. She was also the runner-up in Doha and Miami.
She’s the first player to reach five finals in the season’s first four months since Victoria Azarenka in 2012, wtatennis.com reported.
Swiatek started the match as if on course to run her unbeaten streak in Stuttgart to 11. She opened up a 2-0 lead to start the first set, and had two break points for a 3-0 lead.
From there, the match was played, more often than not, on Rybakina’s terms. The Kazakh kept sustained pressure on Swiatek’s serve throughout the match, and created 20 break point opportunities over three sets.
While Swiatek saved 16 of them, the combination of seven double faults and 42 unforced errors played a part in the result.
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