It’s official: Kiki Bertens is hanging up her racquet after the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games.

Having originally planned to call time on her career at the end of the 2021 season, the Dutch former world No. 4 confirmed her decision to retire following her second Olympic campaign shortly before leaving the Netherlands for the Games. 

“It’s enough,” said the 29-year-old, who has been managing a painful, long-standing Achilles injury that required surgery in October 2020. “It’s too hard to keep going, for my body and my mind. I had hoped after my decision to play to the end of the year that my body would be feeling a bit better after the grass, but the grass court season was pretty tough again.

“Always you think about whether to carry on a bit after tough losses. I think everyone has had that before. But with me it was always, ‘Okay, just keep on pushing, I still have my goals, I can still achieve more.’ Then I had the surgery last year – afterward I worked really hard again and had the hunger to come back and play at my best level, but it’s just been a struggle ever since. It’s tough, but you know when it’s enough.

“After Paris, I was like, ‘Okay, this is the time. This is my last year.’ But then, it became my last two months. It’s enough for me, and I think this is a great way to finish, with a great team, and together with Demi [Schuurs]. Hopefully we will end it in a nice way and then I can say goodbye.”

Injury may have played its part in Bertens’ decision to step away from tennis, but she is content to be doing so on her terms. She will sign off as the world No. 21, playing her final professional matches in a blaze of Dutch orange in Tokyo – just as she did five years earlier in Rio de Janeiro, and over the course of a 10-year Billie Jean King Cup career that included their run to the semi-finals in 2016.

“It’s not only about the body but also, because of coronavirus, I got to experience what life is without tennis,” Bertens admits. “I quite enjoyed that, to be honest. I’m ready for that next step and excited to see what’s next. Nothing is planned at the moment, just having a break and let’s see what comes next – I have no idea!”

Bertens’ career achievements speak to a player who grew to handle the stage that her game deserved. In 2016, she emerged as the surprise package at Roland Garros with an unseeded run to the semi-finals, becoming the first Dutchwoman since Betty Stove in 1977 to reach the final four at a major before falling to Serena Williams while hampered by a calf injury.

And Bertens went on to confirm her status as one of the game’s top players of the next five years. Nineteen of her 20 WTA Tour titles – 10 in both singles and doubles – came from 2016 onwards, including her most memorable moment on court: lifting the Mutua Madrid Open singles trophy in 2019.

“Winning your biggest title, being at your highest ranking at that point, and being recognised as the best female Dutch tennis player ever, once that comes together all in one week, I think that’s the highlight of my career results-wise,” said Bertens, whose ranking peaked at No. 4 that same season – a mark unrivalled in her nation’s history.

Of course, there is still the matter of Tokyo 2020. Seeded No. 16 in singles, Bertens faces two tough assignments in her first-round matches, taking on Czech world No. 41 Marketa Vondrousova in singles, while she and Schuurs, the No. 3 seeds in doubles, have drawn former world No. 1 duo Caroline Garcia and Kiki Mladenovic of France.

“I’m excited about it,” said Bertens, who added that the sweltering conditions in Tokyo felt most like playing in Australia. “We’ve prepared well, and also for the doubles – it is going to be tough, but we’ll see.”

Asked what she will miss about life on tour, Bertens said the friendships she has fostered travelling the world will always be special to her: “I’ll for sure miss that. But I will talk to them, we will catch up and see each other again, so I don’t worry too much about that.”

So, what stands out as the crowning achievement of Bertens’ career? It’s not the matches won, the trophies lifted or the milestones reached, but something deeper.

“The thing I’m proudest of is the person I’ve become,” she reflects. “Twenty years ago, I was a shy girl who didn’t like to play in front of five people – now I’ve played on the biggest stages, played semi-finals of a Grand Slam, won Madrid, reached No. 4 in the world, and been the best Dutch female tennis player ever. Those are the things I’m most proud of. But for sure, the growth I’ve made and the confidence I have in myself, I will take that with me for the rest of my life.”

“This is my home and the Australian Open changed my life. Tennis changed my life... I owe it everything and what better way than to finish in my home city" 💛💚@DylanAlcott today announced that the 2022 @AustralianOpen will be his last professional wheelchair tennis tournament.

— ITF (@ITFTennis) November 9, 2021

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