Two-time Grand Slam champion Garbine Muguruza announces retirement from tennis

The former world No 1 announces her official retirement after taking a step back from the sport last year, having not played since January 2023

Garbiñe Muguruza with her 2017 Wimbledon trophy

Jamie Malachy

April 20, 2024

Garbine Muguruza has announced her official retirement from tennis at the age of 30.

The Spaniard enjoyed a stellar career, beating Serena and Venus Williams to win the 2016 Roland-Garros and 2017 Wimbledon titles respectively.

A former world No 1, Muguruza took a step back from the sport last year, citing the need for a break after more than ten years on the WTA Tour.

At a press conference in Madrid on Saturday, the big-hitting Spaniard made that break a permanent one as she announced there would be no farewell comeback.

“It’s time to say goodbye,” Muguruza said.

“It’s been a long and successful career, but I feel the time has come to retire. Now I am ready to start a new chapter in my life, which will surely be related in one way or another to tennis and sports.

“I didn’t miss the discipline and the difficulty of the life I had before. I have been realising that what I most want to look forward to is my next chapter and not the tennis chapter.”

Calling time on a stellar career 💫

Former World No.1 @GarbiMuguruza announces her retirement from professional tennis, having locked in her status as one of the game’s greats.#GraciasGarbiñe pic.twitter.com/MTdpucSVA7
— wta (@WTA) April 20, 2024

Muguruza was a formidable competitor in her pomp, able to strike blistering winners off both wings from well behind the baseline.

Her prowess was reflected in her results – between 2015 and 2021 she was a dominant figure on the WTA Tour, finishing as runner-up at Wimbledon in 2015 and at the 2020 Australian Open, before winning the WTA Finals in 2021.

She achieved what so few players ever managed to do when she beat Serena – at the peak of her powers – in a Grand Slam final to lift her maiden major title in Paris in 2016.

A little over a year later, and Muguruza then outplayed Venus in the Wimbledon showpiece to make her a double-Grand Slam champion, reaching the summit of the WTA rankings in the process.

While this announcement is a sad loss for tennis, the truth is few expected the Spaniard to return to competitive action after 15 months away from the match court.

She will be missed. But Muguruza’s supreme shot-making ability and effortless charm in press conferences ensures her legacy as one of the most popular players of her generation is secured.