5 tennis players whose surprise retirements shocked the world ft. Bjorn Borg, Camila Giorgi

Camila Giorgi has apparently retired from professional tennis recently. The rigors of professional tennis are difficult for most players. It is not easy being a professional sportsperson, much less playing individual sports like tennis, which compels a player to fend for himself or herself on the court.

Hence, there have been a lot of abrupt retirements in tennis _ some of which came all of a sudden and some others were very premature. In this article, let us take a look at five retirements in tennis that shocked the world:

#5 Camila Giorgi

Giorgi did not make any formal announcement regarding her retirement. However, on the ITIA website, Giorgi's date of retirement is shown as May 7, 2024. The 31-year-old Italian played her last Tour match at the Miami Open last March, where she was thrashed by world No. 1, Iga Swiatek.

Giorgi won 4 WTA titles in her career and reached a career-high ranking of world No. 26 in 2018. Giorgi's sudden decision has come as quite a shock to most tennis lovers in the world.

#4 Marion Bartoli

Bartoli announced her retirement at the age of 28 in 2013. Her decision came around a month after winning her maiden Grand Slam at Wimbledon. She then played in the Cincinnati Masters and announced her retirement after losing a match in that tournament.

She also reached a career-high ranking of world No. 7 in 2013 itself. Bartoli cited various injuries as the reason for her retirement but had fulfilled her dream by winning the Wimbledon before that.

#3 Martina Hingis

Hingis had everything going for her at one point in time. She was (still is) the youngest World No. 1 in women's tennis and also the youngest Grand Slam winner. She had accumulated five Grand Slam titles by the age of 22, but then suddenly decided to retire in 2003, much to the shock of her fans.

In an interview, she told BBC Sport:

"When you have been world number one for four years you cannot content yourself with less."

However, the woman from Switzerland made a comeback to tennis years later and also formed successful doubles pairs with two Indians, Sania Mirza and Leander Pass.

#2 Justine Henin

Henin was at the peak of her powers when she retired. The lady from Belgium won seven Grand Slam titles in her career but decided to retire in 2008 at the age of 25 only. She was the best player on clay among women of her generation and her backhand was almost as feared a shot as Steffi Graf’s forehand.

Henin made a brief comeback to tennis in 2010, but it was not very successful. She ultimately retired for good in 2011, leaving a multitude of her fans somewhat disappointed.

#1 Bjorn Borg

No retirement in the history of tennis sent as many shockwaves through the world as Borg's. The Swede, who was known for his ice-cool temperament and excellent fitness levels, called it a day at the age of 26 in 1983.

However, before that, Borg had managed to win 11 Grand Slam titles — a record at that point in time. Many speculated that burn-out was the reason behind the Swede's premature withdrawal from tennis, but they were not confirmed by the man in question.

Borg made a brief comeback almost a decade after his retirement, still playing with a wooden racket. However, his second coming was short-lived and unsuccessful.