‘The tank is quite empty,’ says Kiki Bertens as she announces 2021 will be her final season
Kiki Bertens has announced she will hang up her tennis racket in 2021 with the former world No 4 admitting that the satisfaction she gets from putting in the hard work “is no longer there”.
The Dutchwoman has struggled with injury the past few seasons and, coupled with the coronavirus pandemic, she has played only a handful of tournaments since the start of 2020.
Bertens, who lost in the first round of the French Open a fortnight ago, has won 10 WTA Tour singles titles and reached a career-high of fourth in the WTA Rankings in 2019.
Her best Grand Slam result was a semi-final run at Roland Garros in 2016 while she also made the quarter-finals at Wimbledon two years later.
An Achilles injury meant she missed the bulk of the 2020 season and the start of this campaign and the 29-year-old admits the passion is no longer there.
“Hi everyone, I want to share with all of you that I have decided this year will be the last season of my tennis career,” she wrote on Instagram.
“I have always demanded the maximum of myself, but the tank is quite empty. The balance of the hard work I put in day in and day out and the satisfaction I get out of it at the end of the day is no longer there. Also, I am more than ready for the chapter that comes next after this.
“The next few tournaments to come are Eastbourne, Wimbledon and the Olympics. We will decide after if my body recovers well enough to play the rest of the season. I will do everything I can to end my career in the best way possible 💪”
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