LIMELETTE, Belgium — Justine Henin retired from tennis Wednesday, an abrupt ending to a short and successful career in which she won seven Grand Slam singles titles and leaves while ranked No. 1 in the world.
The 25-year-old Belgian made the surprising announcement at a news conference, less than two weeks before the start of the French Open. She has won that clay-court major championship four times, including each of the past three years.
“This is the end of a child’s dream,” said Henin, the first woman to retire from tennis while atop the WTA rankings. “This is a definitive decision. Those who know me know it is serious.”
Her announcement came a day after one of the greatest female golfers in history said she’s walking away: Annika Sorenstam, owner of 10 major titles and one of six women to complete a career Grand Slam in her sport, is retiring at the end of the season.
Henin, though, won’t have any sort of farewell tour. She is quitting immediately.
“It is a new beginning for me. I feel like I already lived three lives. I gave the sport all I could and took everything it could give me,” she said. “I take this decision without the least bit of regrets. It is my life as a woman that starts now.”
Henin won 10 tournaments last year, but has been in one of the worst slumps of her career this season. She lost last week in the third round of the German Open and pulled out of this week’s Italian Open, citing fatigue.
“I thought long about this,” Henin said, her voice cracking and eyes watering. “I started thinking about it late last year. I was at the end of the road. I leave with my head held high.”
Last year, Kim Clijsters — another Belgian who reached No. 1 and won a Grand Slam title — retired from tennis at 23. She has since married and become a mother.
The 5-foot-5¾, 126-pound Henin overcame her slender build and a litany of injuries to dominate tennis for long stretches, thanks to a superb one-handed backhand, impressive court coverage and grit.
“She was a great opponent. She always challenged herself to play her best tennis no matter what the circumstances,” Venus Williams, a six-time major champion, said Wednesday at the Italian Open. “She was just a real fighter, so I think that was really what made her best.”
Henin was 12 when her mother died of cancer, and became estranged from her father and siblings for nearly a decade before reconciling last year.
In 2006, she reached the finals of every Grand Slam tournament. In 2007, she sat out the Australian Open in January while going through a divorce from Pierre-Yves Hardenne, then returned to the tour and won the French Open and U.S. Open, eight other tournaments and more than $5 million.
However, after winning her home tournament in Antwerp in February, she has failed to go beyond the quarterfinals at any other event this season.
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