Canadian tennis player Aleksandra Wozniak has decided to retire from the sport after a year that saw her feature in just three competitions.
Wozniak decided to think about hanging her racquet after a trip to Poland where she met her 94-year old grandmother. She admitted it was only after that trip she decided to retire given her 28-year-long tennis career, which began when she was a mere three-year-old.
In a Stade IGA in Montreal press conference, Wozniak said her decision to quit came at a time when her body was struggling to compete at the highest level.
She added:
“It’s very difficult to make that decision but you have to listen to your health. I love my sport. It’s been my passion since I was a little girl so it hasn’t been easy.”
The Canadian is a former world number 21 and retires with one WTA title to her name. Her best performance at the a Grand Slam came at the French Open of 2009 where she reached round four and in the Fed Cup, she had a 40-12 win-loss record for Canada.
Her title at the Stanford Classic in 2008 made her the first ever Quebec-born player to win a WTA competition and included wins against Serena Williams and Marion Bartoli.
Wozniak’s other achievements include 11 tournament wins on the ITF circuit and the representation of Canada in the 2012 Olympic Games.
She achieved her career-best ranking in 2009 though and finished the year with the Bobbie Rosenfeld Award as the Canadian female athlete that season.
The Canadian also admitted while tennis was an individual sport, she enjoyed a lot featuring at the Fed Cup for Canada.
“Those were some great moments I went through. Every game I got to play for my country, hurt or not hurt. When I stepped out on the court, I knew my country was behind me.”
Wozniak suffered a right shoulder injury which made her take a break from the game for a period of 11 months but it was her knee injury in 2018 that might have been the last straw. A crowdfunding campaign on GoFundMe.com was announced to raise $50,000 but it fell short.
She now wants to kick-start a tennis academy of her own post retirement.
Be the first to comment