Tennis is one of the most physically demanding sports, and as such, it has driven many of its biggest stars to early retirements.
After all, the toll it can take on a player’s body can be catastrophic, with the ankles, hips, wrists, shoulders and knees all subject to intense strain across decades of relentless matches.
Whilst many will play through pain in the endless pursuit of glory, there are other reasons to elongate a career.
However, Marion Bartoli certainly falls into the former category, who called time on her playing days not long after securing the biggest win of her career.
Marion Bartoli: the Wimbledon champion who retired a month after her first Grand Slam title
Bartoli’s story is one of great hardship, but also remarkable triumph.
After all, it was not easy for the former world number seven to grow up training on small, icy courts.
However, as is often the case with many of the modern-day stars, they persevered, and learnt plenty from those experiences that shaped them into the superstars they became.
It was perhaps this unorthodox training style that forged her iconic two-handed forehand, opting to use both arms for her forehand and backhand.
This actually proved quite successful across her career, with her crowning moment coming in 2013 as she finally claimed that elusive Grand Slam title at Wimbledon.
Beating the German Sabine Lisicki in the final, it was thought that Bartoli might kick on from there.
However, in August of 2013, she told reporters at the Cincinnati Open: “I feel it’s time for me to walk away.”
Citing Achilles, shoulder, hip and lower back issues that continually hurt her whenever she played, it proved to be a triumphant exit from the sport, arguably making her Wimbledon success even more special.
Now a pundit, Bartoli recently shared what she’d like to see change at the top of women’s tennis, as a prominent figure within the sport despite that early retirement.
What other players shocked the world with their early retirements?
Naturally, Bartoli’s decision to retire just 40 days after her Wimbledon triumph stunned the tennis world, especially given she was just 28 years old.
However, she is far from the only elite-level star to make such a shocking decision during what many would consider to be the peak years of a player’s career.
Bjorn Borg is perhaps one of the most high-profile male examples, who retired aged just 26, having already won 11 major titles throughout his career.
| Player | Age of retirement | Reason for retiring | Grand Slam titles won (at the time of first retirement) |
| Marion Bartoli | 28 | Injury | 1 |
| Bjorn Borg | 26 | Frustration with tennis | 11 |
| Martina Hingis | 22 | Injury | 5 |
| Justine Henin | 25 | A loss of “fire” and drive for the sport | 7 |
| Kim Clijsters | 23 | Injuries and a fading desire to compete | 1 |
He cited frustration with the sport as his reason, and although he attempted a comeback eight years later, it was a short and unsuccessful one.
Martina Hingis and Justine Henin both fall into similar brackets, having retired aged 22 and 25 respectively, both ravaged by injury.
That did not limit the shock factor, especially given the latter of that duo was still world number one when she hung up her racket.
