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British tennis player Tanysha Dissanayake has shocked the tennis world by announcing her retirement from the sport at the age of just 21, citing long Covid as the reason. She contracted COVID-19 last July.
Dissanayake mostly competed on the ITF circuit and had a career-high singles ranking of 1,056, which she achieved in March 2020. Her best doubles ranking, meanwhile, was 1,068 - a mark she attained in August 2019.
Dissanayake announced her retirement via a post on Instagram, stating that it was time for her to move on after being unwell for over a year.
"One sport, 16 years, 21 countries, countless memories. That’s a wrap on the best 16 years of my life. The sport that has made me into the person that I am today. It’s been a crazy journey and I’d do it all again if I could but after over a year of being unwell, it is time to move on. This was the hardest decision I’ve had to make and even harder to accept," Tanysha Dissanayake wrote.
"I don’t know a life without tennis in it but this sport has taught me so much and I know that great things are in store. I couldn’t be more grateful to everyone who has supported me throughout! I have made the best memories with the best people and i wouldn’t change it for the world! Tennis- I love you but that’s goodbye from me," she added.
Speaking to Sky Sports back in March, Dissanayake spoke about the difficulties she faced due to long Covid.
"It's basically been downhill ever since," the 21-year-old said. "For most of this year, I've been completely bedbound. Just to speak to you today, I didn't do anything the whole of the morning, didn't do much yesterday. One of my friends came over the other day. I had to rest for five days after that."
Tanysha Dissanayake played her last tennis match in June 2021
Tanysha Dissanayake's final tournament came in June 2021 at a W15 event in Heraklion, Greece. She lost 6-4, 6-2 to local girl Ellie Logotheti in the first round.
The Brit also competed in the doubles event with Eliz Maloney as her partner and reached the quarterfinals after beating the Dutch pair of Dunya Charalampopoulos and Anouk Koevermans. They eventually lost to the Czech-American duo of Michaela Bayerlova and Jessie Aney.
This was Dissanayake's best doubles performance in 2021. Her best singles outing that year was reaching the third round of two WTA events in Heraklion.
