A version of this feature first appeared in the June/July issue of Australian Tennis Magazine, bringing you in-depth coverage from Roland Garros plus features, instructional content and more. Visit the online shop to preview and order your copy.
For years, fans have been blessed to follow storied professional tennis careers which have extended longer and longer.
Roger Federer and Serena Williams debuted on tour in the 1990s and competed, extraordinarily, into their 40s. Venus Williams forges on at age 44. Novak Djokovic continues setting Grand Slam records at age 37, and while Rafael Nadal has hinted at retirement, he maintains a competitive presence at age 38.
Yet season 2024 has served as a reminder – or perhaps a regression to the mean? – that tennis careers often end sooner, and more abruptly, than we would like.
Dominic Thiem, Danielle Collins and Diego Schwartzman have all confirmed that 2024 will be their last full seasons. There have also been retirement announcements from Garbine Muguruza and Camila Giorgi, effective immediately. All five are aged between 30 and 32.
[Editor's note: Since this article was originally published, both Angelique Kerber and Andy Murray have announced that the Paris 2024 Olympics will be their final events.]
Thiem was unable to recapture the necessary drive and intensity following his US Open 2020 win; he ultimately failed to recover from a serious wrist injury. Muguruza and Collins have both endured the relentlessness of the tour, yearning for a life beyond tennis.
The departure – both actual and pending – of popular players have infused 2024 with what tennis writer Christopher Clarey described as a “nostalgic mood”.
“Nadal has made it plain that the end is near, without specifying exactly when the end will come. Andy Murray is on his way out, as well, possibly at the Olympics. Stan Wawrinka, a three-time Grand Slam champion like Murray, is 39 years old and ranked 87th,” Clarey wrote in his Tennis & Beyond column on Substack.
“Former women’s No.1 Garbine Muguruza confirmed her retirement at age 30 last month in Spain. French veteran Alize Cornet will retire after the French Open. American Danielle Collins won singles titles in Miami and Charleston after announcing that 2024 would be her final season.
“And how much longer will Venus Williams, who has been a pro for nearly 30 years, want to continue?”
Clarey’s Olympics reference is significant. These days, there are few things comparable with an Olympic year to make professional players contemplate their future.
The theory that players approach their careers with Olympic cycles in mind gained traction ahead of London 2012. These were to be held at Wimbledon, and many believed Federer, nearing his 31st birthday, might end his career, at his favourite venue, on a high by securing the last major individual tennis prize to elude him.
“Can Federer garnish his legacy still further by winning gold?” wondered Jon Wertheim in Sports Illustrated, before noting: “None of the singles gold or silver medallists from (Beijing) 2008 are defending their medals.”
Serena Williams was woven into similar retirement conversations, given she was the same age as Federer and suffered significant health complications in the previous year.
Wrote Sandra Harwitt for ESPN: “(Williams) already has her retirement strategy set. ‘Just ask Roger, and whatever Roger says, I'm going to have two years after him,’ said Williams, laughing. ‘Of course, that guy is never going to retire. He's amazing.’ And in case Federer is wondering on the time frame, Williams contends she's already looking beyond the London Games to the 2016 Olympics in Brazil.”
Incredibly, Williams and Federer stopped in the same month – a whole decade later, in 2022. They were the two most significant departures in a succession of high-profile retirements which have reshaped the face of the sport.
Six months earlier, world No.1 Ash Barty retired while the reigning Wimbledon and Australian Open champion. Three months later, Rio Olympic champion Monica Puig was gone. In September 2022, Serena concluded her illustrious career at the US Open while Federer did the same at the Laver Cup.
ASH BARTY RETIRES: "I've given absolutely everything"
In 2023 – when Nadal declared the next year was “probably going to be my last year in the professional tour” – the sport farewelled former world No.2 Anett Kontaveit. It was also when Juan Martin del Potro aborted a possible US Open comeback, leading many to believe we’d seen the last of the Argentine champion, too.
It was also in 2023 when Muguruza played her last match. That year the two-time major champion announced an indefinite break from tennis, telling Women's Health Magazine: “I was just so tired of the pressure and being judged by the media and experts every week. So, this break is exactly what my body and mind needed.”
It transpired as permanent, with Muguruza confirming the end of her career ahead of the 2024 Laureus World Sports Awards in Madrid.
And now here we are in 2024, which just like 2012 sees the Olympic tennis event return to a Grand Slam venue – this time Roland Garros.
This is a huge incentive for Nadal, who was hesitant to comment on his future beyond Paris 2024. “Give me two months until Olympics,” he said after an unprecedented first-round loss at Roland Garros, “and then let's see if I am able to keep going or I say, ‘Okay, guys, it's more than enough’.”
It’s also a motivating force for Murray, the 2012 and 2016 singles gold medallist. “I would love the chance to play in another Olympics but also genuinely only if I felt like there was a chance of winning a medal,” he told The Times, after revealing in Dubai that “I don’t plan on playing much past this summer”.
Collins said the Olympics were central to her final-season goals. "I've played I think more tournaments than I normally would like an entire season, but we have Olympics coming up,” she said on the Served With Andy Roddick podcast. “So I wanted to kind of prioritise playing as many tournaments as I could, to see where I would end up with that.”
As tennis fans prepare to farewell these favourites, and contend with the emotions that accompany retirement discussions, it must be noted what is unfolding on court at the same time.
Four players, all aged 23 and under – Iga Swiatek, Carlos Alcaraz, Coco Gauff and Jannik Sinner – have risen to become reigning Grand Slam champions and superstars in their own right.
THE KIDS ARE ALRIGHT: Wise heads on young shoulders
Tennis always replenishes, and as one group of defining, enduring champions begin their departures, there is simultaneous excitement for an exciting new generation beginning to build a similar legacy.