American and ex-WTA women’s tennis star Emma Raducanu, a two-time Wimbledon semifinalist, failed to win a match in Europe or Africa this season as she retired from the professional tour on Thursday.
Raducanu, 35, said in a statement she would remain active on the side as a coach for her old Spanish coach, Lorenzo Villarreal, and female players at the age of “Escape 2016.” She last week left Magdalena Rybarikova of Slovakia after the WTA failed to grant her one of the $1 million WTA tournaments. In January, the Fed Cup champion was granted a wildcard into the $500,000 US Open, for which she only lasted a single round.
At the start of the year, Raducanu drew mixed reviews when she parted ways with her previous coach, Fernando Leone, a Spaniard who made an appearance in this year’s French Open. Many felt Raducanu was being forced to leave Villarreal when she originally decided to step away from the tour at the end of last year. Her retirement comes before Euro/Africa Futures week in Vienna, but Raducanu recently competed in a tournament in Luzern, Switzerland.
Raducanu was a member of the U.S. Fed Cup team from 2001 to 2004. She captured the silver medal at the 2004 Athens Olympics and was twice a semifinalist at Wimbledon, in 2006 and 2007.