Top Dutch woman tennis player Kiki to call it quits

Top Dutch woman tennis player Kiki to call it quits

London, (Samajweekly) Kiki Bertens, former world No.4 and the Netherlands’s highest-ranked player in WTA history, said on Wednesday that this year would be her final competitive tennis season.

The 29-year-old Kiki, who had reached the French Open semi-final in 2016 and the Wimbledon quarter-final in 2018, has won 10 singles and 10 doubles titles in her career.

In an Instagram post, Kiki said a combination of last year’s Covid-19 outbreak and a lingering Achilles injury had forced her to bring a premature end to her competitive career.

“For me, if Covid didn’t come maybe I could continue for two to three more years, I have no idea. But when you’re in the rhythm of doing something, it’s easy for me and I can just keep on going, no matter how long,” said Kiki.

Kiki was not thinking about retirement when the 2020 season began as she had won the Madrid Open — her biggest title of her career — the previous year and had reached a career-high ranking of No.4.

She began 2020 on a positive note, making the quarter-finals in Brisbane and pre-quarterfinals at the Australian Open.

“But then Covid came and everything changed. With the unknown, it was tough to go out there and practice every day,” she said.

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