Caroline Wozniacki announced on Friday morning that she would be retiring from professional tennis following the Australian Open in January.
The move is a shocking one from the former world No. 1 in singles. She’s just 29 years old, and held the world No. 1 spot as recently as last year, when she won Australian Open, her first Grand Slam title.
The Danish tennis player cited her growing love for travel, and her commitment to growing her family with her husband, former Warriors star David Lee.
Wozniacki has also struggled with health issues. In 2018, she went public with the fact that she’d been diagnosed with rheumatoid arthritis. She played through it for much of the 2018 season, but in her retirement note, she noted that the decision had nothing to do with her health. She did say she wants to devote more time to speaking out about rheumatoid arthitis.
Wozniacki retired in a post made to her Instagram and Twitter.
The caption reads:
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!
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