Top 5 tennis players who ended their careers unexpectedly early

Ashleigh Barty finishes on top. She spent a total of 114 weeks as world number one, which puts her at number 4 on the historical charts. Barty also added 3 Grand Slam titles, which ensured her tennis immortality. The untimely passing of an Australian legend is not unique on the tennis circuit. Which other players have suffered a similar fate to the Australian?

Bjorn Borg

An absolute legend. A true champion. The best player of his generation and one of the best ever. Won a total of 11 Grand Slams, all major titles before the age of 25. He is 6th in the historical table, only Nadal(21), Federer(20), Djokovic(20), Sampras(14) and Emerson (12) have won more grand slams than Borg.

The Swedish legend dominated from a very early age. He won his first Grand Slam at just 18 years old when he triumphed at the French Open. The next year(1975) he managed to defend his title. In 1976, he dominated Wimbledon for the first time, winning the world’s most famous tournament four more times. He became the first player in history to win 5 titles in a row at Wimbledon.

His reign ended in 1981, after his 6th French Open title. The then world No. 1 then lost the Wimbledon final and the US Open, with John McEnroe becoming his conqueror. According to his own words, he felt no disappointment after his defeat at the US Open, which was the first time in his life. After that, he did not achieve any more great successes, due to lack of motivation he closed his career at the age of 28.

Justine Henin

The Belgian tennis player first drew attention to herself in 2001 when she helped her national team win the Fed Cup. Her stellar era didn’t last very long, but it was very successful. In 2003, she won the French Open and the US Open.

A year later, she triumphed at the Australian Open and also won an Olympic gold medal at the Athens Olympics. In 2005 and 2006 she dominated the French Open. She missed the Australian Open early the next year due to a breakup with her husband. This season, she won the French Open and the US Open. Her dominance seemed set to continue.

In 2008, she suffered a right kneecap injury and then withdrew from the tournament, citing fatigue as the reason. She then took an unexpected step. The then world number one Henin ended her career just before the French Open, shocking the entire tennis world. The Belgian retired a month before turning 26, the same age as Barty.

Andy Roddick

One of the best players of his generation. The star American achieved the biggest success of his career at just 21 when he unexpectedly won the US Open. Roddick also became the world number one, the last American to reign supreme in the world rankings. In the following years, he was one of the big favourites to win Grand Slams, but he never added another major title.

The American tennis player excelled with a perfect serve and a strong forehand. His greatest successes came at Wimbledon. At the most infamous grand slam of the world he played the final three times (2004,2005,2009), but not once did he succeed.

Especially his final in 2009 against Federer was legendary, the Swiss tennis player won the decisive 5th set 16::14. Roddick played one more Grand Slam final at the US Open(2006), but again he was stopped by Federer. He concluded his rich career at the age of 30, his last tournament was the US Open 2012.

Ana Ivanovic

One of the most lovable toys on the circuit, whose successful era lasted only 2 years. She won a total of 15 titles, with her most successful years being 2007 and 2008. In 2007, she played the semi-finals of Wimbledon and the Champions Tournament, this catapulted her to the world’s top.

In 2008, she achieved the biggest success of her career. She dominated both the Australian Open and the French Open. These titles also made her the world number one. Her reign lasted 12 weeks. After that, her career faded considerably. The US Open 2012, when she reached the quarterfinals, is worth mentioning. Her last season took place in 2016, she closed her tennis chapter at the age of 29.

Caroline Wozniacki

This Dane ruled women’s tennis from 2010 to 2018. During this period, she became world number one a total of three times. However, she received a lot of criticism for achieving this success as she reached the No. 1 spot in the rankings without winning a grand slam.

Her playing style was not very exciting either, relying on great defensive play and a low amount of unforced errors. She was very successful at the US Open, reaching the finals there in 2009 and 2014. However, she did not succeed either time. She also had a solid Grand Slam result at the French Open, advancing to the quarterfinals on two occasions (2010,2017).

Towards the end of her successful career, she fulfilled her big dream of winning a Grand Slam after all. In 2018, she won the Australian Open, which was completely unexpected. The circle has come full circle. Wozniacki fulfilled all her goals, but in the following years she lacked motivation. And so, in 2020, she quit tennis for good.

Source: Wikipedia