While some stars are looking to make their breakthroughs in New York, others are waving goodbye to tennis.
Several big names are set to retire at the 2025 US Open, none bigger than former two-time Wimbledon champion Petra Kvitova.
After losing 1-6, 0-6 to Dianne Parry in round one, Kvitova retired from tennis, bringing her 19-year professional career to a close.
She isn’t the only WTA star to have retired, as a former US Open semifinalist also played her final match.
Coming up short in a three-set thriller, Caroline Garcia called it quits at the age of 31.
Speaking to the media after the match, the Frenchwoman claimed she was ‘very happy’ with her decision.
Caroline Garcia says she is ‘very happy’ to retire but insists she ‘still loves’ the sport
The former world number four narrowly missed out on a place in the second round, losing 4-6, 6-4, 3-6 to Kamilla Rakhimova in her opener.
During her post-match press conference, Garcia explained what she found ‘tricky’ about her US Open retirement.
“Obviously, it’s not really easy to step on court when you don’t know if it’s your last match or if you win, you have another last match,” she said.
“It’s kind of a tricky moment, but a lot of emotion before the match, even if I got a lot of emotion out in Roland Garros, but it meant a lot to play the US Open one more time.”
Garcia then said how she was feeling, immediately after retiring from tennis.
“It’s kind of weird to say, but I’m very happy. I had a great run,” she said.
“I did great things on court, and I went and did what I could achieve.
“I was dreaming of achieving more, but I’m at peace with my decision to move forward with my life and close the chapter of being a tennis player.”
Asked why she decided to retire from tennis, Garcia provided a commendably honest answer.
“The last couple of years for me were hard, were tricky and kind of dark,” she said.
“I almost left last year hating tennis, I thought it was the worst sport out there.
“But I did a lot of work on myself to understand what was going on and do one more season, leave it my own way, and build again my love for the sport and my passion for tennis.
“Competing and everything it takes to be at the top, I didn’t want to do it and couldn’t handle it anymore, but I still love tennis.”
She may not be able to ‘handle’ elite-level competition anymore, but for some time, Garcia was one of the best around…
Caroline Garcia’s WTA Tour career achievements
Reaching a career-high ranking of fourth in the world, Garcia produced several impressive Grand Slam performances over the years.
- Australian Open: 4R (2018, 2023)
- French Open: QF (2017)
- Wimbledon: 4R (2017, 2022)
- US Open: SF (2022)
Whilst she was never quite able to get over the line in singles, she did win two major titles in doubles, at her home French Open.
- 2016 French Open (With Kristina Mladenovic)
- 2022 French Open (With Kristina Mladenovic)
She picked up plenty more singles titles, including three WTA 1000s and the WTA Finals in 2022.
| Tournament | Tier | Surface | Opponent | Score |
| 2014 Copa Colsanitas (Colombia) | WTA 250 | Clay | Jelena Jankovic | 6-3, 6-4 |
| 2016 Internationaux de Strasbourg (France) | WTA 250 | Clay | Mirjana Lucic-Baroni | 6-4, 6-1 |
| 2016 Mallorca Open (Spain) | WTA 250 | Grass | Anastasija Sevastova | 6-3, 6-4 |
| 2017 Wuhan Open (China) | WTA 1000 | Hard | Ashleigh Barty | 6-7, 7-6, 6-2 |
| 2018 China Open | WTA 1000 | Hard | Simona Halep | 6-4, 7-6 |
| 2018 Tianjin Open (China) | WTA 250 | Hard | Karolina Pliskova | 7-6, 6-3 |
| 2019 Nottingham Open (UK) | WTA 250 | Grass | Donna Vekic | 2-6, 7-6, 7-6 |
| 2022 Bad Homburg Open (Germany) | WTA 250 | Grass | Bianca Andreescu | 6-7, 6-4, 6-4 |
| 2022 Poland Open | WTA 250 | Clay | Ana Bogdan | 6-4, 6-1 |
| 2022 Cincinnati Open (USA) | WTA 1000 | Hard | Petra Kvitova | 6-2, 6-4 |
| 2022 WTA Finals (USA) | WTA Finals | Hard (Indoor) | Aryna Sabalenka | 7-6, 6-4 |
Winning three or more titles on grass, hard, and clay courts, Garcia established herself as one of the most versatile players in the women’s game.
As Garcia heads into the next chapter of her life, she leaves behind a truly remarkable legacy that won’t soon be forgotten.
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