ATP star who stunned Rafael Nadal at Wimbledon announces retirement
Lukas Rosol, who famously stunned Rafael Nadal at Wimbledon in 2012, has announced his retirement from professional tennis.
Rosol had not competed in a professional match since October, when he retired in the second round of an ITF tournament in Italy, and had fallen to a ranking of No.974.
However, the main successes of Rosol’s career came in the ‘2010’s’, having won ATP titles at the Romanian Open (2013) and the Winston-Salem Open (2014), that enabled him to reach a career-high ranking of No.26.
Perhaps the most famous moment of the Czech’s career came in 2012, when the then world No.100 defeated second seed and two-time Wimbledon champion Nadal in a five set thriller on Centre Court.
Rosol described the victory as ‘a miracle’ after the match, but could not recreate the success when he faced Nadal again at Wimbledon two years later.
In a statement on social media, Rosol reflected on his 20-year career coming to an end, “Everything ends one day and this end is harder than any other. Growing up to this decision was not easy at all, every professional athlete will understand that.
“Tennis was, is and will be my whole life. But time does not stop a man and does not recommend a sore body. My career has had everything it should have. We worked hard, it hurt, we lost, we won.”
Inside the baseline…
Lots of people may have forgotten about Lukas Rosol in recent years due to his inactivity on the main tour, but his victory over Rafael Nadal at Wimbledon will always remain as one of the biggest Grand Slam shocks in history. Rosol did not always rub people up the right way, and had altercations with the aforementioned Nadal and Andy Murray throughout his career. However, he definitely has a lot to be proud of after winning two titles and breaking inside the top 30 of the ATP rankings.
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