{"id":383435,"date":"2026-01-22T03:26:11","date_gmt":"2026-01-22T03:26:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/383435\/"},"modified":"2026-01-22T03:26:11","modified_gmt":"2026-01-22T03:26:11","slug":"wimbledon-champion-and-ex-world-no-1-announces-immediate-retirement-tennis-sport","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/383435\/","title":{"rendered":"Wimbledon champion and ex-world No. 1 announces immediate retirement | Tennis | Sport"},"content":{"rendered":"<p class=\"withoutCaption\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/london-england-ivan-dodig-of-croatia-and-latisha-chan-of-chinese-taipei-pose-with-the-trophy-6689356.jpeg\" class=\"zoomEnabled\" data-img=\"https:\/\/cdn.images.express.co.uk\/img\/dynamic\/72\/1200x712\/secondary\/london-england-ivan-dodig-of-croatia-and-latisha-chan-of-chinese-taipei-pose-with-the-trophy-6689356.jpg?r=1768999475567\" alt=\"Day Thirteen: The Championships - Wimbledon 2019\" title=\"Day Thirteen: The Championships - Wimbledon 2019\" width=\"590\" height=\"394\" fetchpriority=\"high\"\/><\/p>\n<p>Latisha Chan after winning Wimbledon mixed doubles with Ivan Dodig. (Image: Getty) This article contains affiliate links, we will receive a commission on any sales we generate from it. <a data-link-tracking=\"InArticle|Link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.express.co.uk\/life-style\/science-technology\/1078812\/Daily-Express-Information-on-Affiliate-links\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">Learn more<\/a> <\/p>\n<p>Latisha Chan announced her retirement from tennis at the <a data-link-tracking=\"InArticle|Link\" title=\"Australian Open\" href=\"https:\/\/www.express.co.uk\/latest\/australian-open\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">Australian Open<\/a> after a glittering career that saw her reach world No. 1 in doubles. The 36-year-old, who won the <a data-link-tracking=\"InArticle|Link\" title=\"US Open (Tennis)\" href=\"https:\/\/www.express.co.uk\/latest\/us-open\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">US Open<\/a> doubles title in 2017 with Martina Hingis and the <a data-link-tracking=\"InArticle|Link\" title=\"Wimbledon\" href=\"https:\/\/www.express.co.uk\/latest\/wimbledon\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">Wimbledon<\/a> mixed doubles title two years later, explained that she felt \u201cvery lucky\u201d to achieve so much in the sport despite her \u201cphysical limitations\u201d.<\/p>\n<p>The Taiwanese trailblazer was likely referring to her diagnosis of postural tachycardia syndrome (POTS) in 2014, which saw her shift from a promising singles career to doubles. She has been inactive for two years as a result of injury and has not played at this year\u2019s Australian Open.<\/p>\n<p>However, organisers of the Grand Slam have confirmed that a special ceremony honouring her will take place on Saturday.<\/p>\n<p>Chan won four mixed doubles Majors in addition to her US Open win, taking the <a data-link-tracking=\"InArticle|Link\" title=\"French Open\" href=\"https:\/\/www.express.co.uk\/latest\/french-open\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">French Open<\/a> titles in 2018 and 2019 in addition to her Wimbledon win in 2019 with Ivan Dodig.<\/p>\n<p>She also competed in four <a data-link-tracking=\"InArticle|Link\" title=\"Olympic Games 2024\" href=\"https:\/\/www.express.co.uk\/latest\/olympic-games\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">Olympic Games<\/a>, including the Paris 2024 edition with her sister Chan Hao-ching.<\/p>\n<p>On Instagram, she penned an emotional statement that read: \u201cTo a voyage with a compass only.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThis was supposed to be a bit sentimental moment, but don&#8217;t know why but what comes to mind is the pictures that make people smile.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI&#8217;ve never been very good at saying goodbye, especially to say goodbye to a dream that has been with me for 30 years.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cTennis came into my life when I was 6 years old, I didn&#8217;t expect to be with me all the way until I was 36 years old.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cLucky to be brave for my dreams with the support of my parents. And on such a special journey, with so many, many people along the way who helped me support me, I can&#8217;t help but get red eyes to think of it.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>She added: \u201cAlthough everyone often sees athletes enjoy the thrill of victory and live a gorgeous life, indeed tennis has also taken me through many climax moments and led me to see the bigger world.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cBut behind every game, it&#8217;s a life that is rarely seen &#8211; daily boring training, never-ending jetlag, and long flights over and over again, waking up in the middle of the night and couldn&#8217;t tell which corner of the world I was in a hotel.<\/p>\n<p class=\"withoutCaption\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/new-york-ny-martina-hingis-of-switzerland-and-yung-jan-chan-of-taiwan-kiss-the-championship-6689370..jpeg\" class=\"zoomEnabled\" data-img=\"https:\/\/cdn.images.express.co.uk\/img\/dynamic\/72\/1200x712\/secondary\/new-york-ny-martina-hingis-of-switzerland-and-yung-jan-chan-of-taiwan-kiss-the-championship-6689370.jpg?r=1768999475592\" alt=\"2017 US Open Tennis Championships - Day 14\" title=\"2017 US Open Tennis Championships - Day 14\" width=\"590\" height=\"393\" loading=\"lazy\"\/><\/p>\n<p>Latisha Chan and Martina Hingis after winning the US Open together. (Image: Getty)<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt also taught me how to fall and stand up again, still keep believing in yourself when the whole world doesn&#8217;t believe in you.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThose who are alone, those who are not understood, those who demand the perfect horns, the moments that try but can&#8217;t control, little by little, it makes me know myself more, finding confidence in doubt also made me who I am today.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAlthough in the process, due to physical limitations, I have to give up some goals, but can be under such limitations I feel very lucky to have accomplished the highest point I can reach. My tennis career left no regrets in my heart at this moment of turning.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>She confirmed her retirement, penning: \u201cI officially announce my retirement as a professional tennis player. Retirement ceremony will also be held at the Australian Open this week.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhen I was 14 I won the Teen Girls Doubles Championship in the Australian Open, started my career tennis path. So the end of this journey is very meaningful.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>  Stay up-to-date with the latest Tennis news  <a class=\"wapp-btn\" href=\"https:\/\/www.express.co.uk\/whatsapp-group-web\/4?utm_source=article_widget&amp;utm_medium=referral&amp;utm_campaign=article_widget&amp;utm_content=whatsapp-group-signup-in-article\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Join us on WhatsApp<\/a><\/p>\n<p class=\"wapp-inf\">Our community members are treated to special offers, promotions, and adverts from us and our partners. You can check out at any time. Read our <a href=\"https:\/\/www.express.co.uk\/privacy-notice\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Privacy Policy<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Latisha Chan after winning Wimbledon mixed doubles with Ivan Dodig. (Image: Getty) This article contains affiliate links, we&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":383436,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[38],"tags":[21399,145207,145209,145210,145208,101,118,872,56,54,55,116,11572],"class_list":["post-383435","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-tennis","tag-australian-open","tag-latisha-chan","tag-latisha-chan-ceremony","tag-latisha-chan-name","tag-latisha-chan-retire","tag-sports","tag-tennis","tag-tennis-news","tag-uk","tag-united-kingdom","tag-unitedkingdom","tag-wimbledon","tag-wta-tour"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/383435","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=383435"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/383435\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/383436"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=383435"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=383435"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=383435"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}