Dutch tennis star Bertens retires from tennis

AMESTRDAM: The Netherlands’ Kiki Bertens announced her retirement from professional tennis on Tuesday.

Representing The Netherlands, Bertens’ record includes 10 WTA singles titles from 15 finals, the first of them on clay at Fès in 2012 – which she won as a qualifier, making just her second maindraw appearance ater playing only sparingly on the junior circuit.

In 2018, Bertens won her first WTA 500 title at Charleston, beating Julia Goerges in the final, followed by victory later that summer at WTA 1000 Western & Southern Open in Cincinnati,wherein she defeated World No.1 Simona Halep in the final, her fourth Top 10 win of the week and first over a reigning No.1.

The following year, Bertens won the biggest title of her career, at the 2019 Mutua Madrid Open, defeating three Top 10 players – No.2 Petra Kvitova (QF), No.8 Sloane Stephens (SF) and No.3 Simona Halep (F). Bertens was the first woman to win the title without conceding a set.

Additionally, Bertens twice successfully defended singles titles, on the red clay of Nürnberg (2016-17) and indoors at St Petersburg (2019-20).

Other notable finals appearances came at Madrid in 2018 and the WTA Elite Trophy, Zhuhai in 2019 . Making her debut at the WTA Finals in Singapore in 2018, she advanced to the semis before falling to eventual champion Elina Svitolina.

By rising to World No.4 on the WTA Rankings on May 13, 2019, Bertens passed her countrywoman, Bety Stöve as the highest-ranked Dutchwoman of all time – the 1977 Wimbledon finalist peaked at No.5 in singles. Ater making her Top 10 debut in October 2018, Bertens went on to close out her career with three successive Top 10 seasons, finishing at World No.9 from 2018-20.

In Grand Slam play, Bertens made a semifinal run on her favored red clay at Roland Garros in 2016, where she upset four seeds before falling to World No.1 Serena Williams. She also reached the quarterfinals at Wimbledon in 2018, defeating Top 10-ranked Venus Williams and Karolina Pliskova before falling to Goerges.

In doubles, Bertens rose to No.16 and captured 10 titles from 16 finals, most recently at 2018 Brisbane partnering with compatriot Demi Schuurs.