Former world No 4 Cibulkova announces retirement

Former world No 4 and Australian Open runner-up Dominika Cibulkova announced her retirement on Tuesday.

The 30-year-old Slovakian claimed eight WTA singles titles and entered the top four in 2017.

Her biggest title came in 2016 when she defeated then world No 1 Angelique Kerber to win the WTA Finals.

Cibulkova, who has not played since the French Open, became the first Slovak woman to reach a Grand Slam singles final in 2014 when she lost to China's Li Na at the Australian Open.

She said she had made up her mind about retirement at Roland Garros. "It was strange because I knew, and no one around me except my team knew it would be my last tournament," she said.

"At that point, I was 100 percent sure. I wasn't doubting or thinking 'maybe yes or no.' I knew I wanted to do it like this, for this to be my last tournament. I went home and was happy with my decision.

"It's hard to make it, but once you do, you feel more free."

View this post on Instagram

Today, with mixed feelings, I have special news to share with you all. As you know I haven’t been playing tournaments for several months. What started as a recurring Achilles injury, developed into one of the most difficult moments in my life – deciding on what to do with my tennis career. After a lot of thinking, talks, and support from my family, friends, and my team, I have finally decided that I will not be returning to the courts as a competitive player. It is a moment filled with so many feelings - saddness, fear of the unknown, but also excitement of what life will bring in the future. I was one of the luckiest kids to stumble upon the road of a tennis player thanks to my wonderful parents and I will be forever grateful for their unconditional support. They did everything possible to keep me moving forward no matter how big the obstacles that stood in the way. I was also very fortunate to have a whole « village » of wonderful people around me who helped shape my career and help me achieve goals and dreams that children dream about. I am chosing today as the day I announce my retirement from tennis because this is also a day on which my biography is being launched with all of the details about my career. Writing the book was a journey on its own because it also brought lots of emotions and took a significant effort to open up about my personal life. I am honored to share this special book with all my fans. I am looking forward to step into the next part of my life and take on new challenges, spend happy times with my family, friends, making new friends, visiting new places, and making new memories. I will miss the support of my fans on the tennis court but will never forget you because tennis will always be a part of me. Pomeeee ;) New chapter begins now…. ??

A post shared by Dominika Cibulkova (@domicibulkova) on Nov 12, 2019 at 8:13am PST