Kiki Bertens has announced today that this Wimbledon 2021 season will be her last outing on grass. The ace tennis player is well known for her clay court excellence.
Kiki entered Wimbledon in 2018. The 26-year-old Dutchwoman had won five career titles – all on clay – and had her best showing at a Grand Slam at Roland-Garros, where she reached the semi-finals in 2016.
In the Championships three years ago, Bertens overcame a gruelling three-set match against five-time champion Venus Williams, overcoming the American 8-6 in the decider of their third round clash.
She then beat top-10 player, this time Karolina Pliskova, to punch her ticket into the quarter-finals, where she fell in three sets to her good friend Julia Goerges.
I HAVE DECIDED THIS YEAR WILL BE THE LAST SEASON OF MY TENNIS CAREER – Kiki
That run on the grass courts of the All England Club allowed Bertens to believe she could cause some real damage on a surface that was not clay, and her career took a major upturn from that moment onwards.
“I have always demanded the maximum of myself, but the tank is quite empty. The balance of the hard work I put in day in and day out and the satisfaction I get out of it at the end of the day is no longer there. Also, I am more than ready for the chapter that comes next after this.”
“I know this will be my last Wimbledon so we just make the best out of it and approach it maybe a little bit more relaxed but once I step on the court, it’s the same as always,” she concludes
Bertens, who had Achilles’ surgery at the end of last year, will begin her farewell to Wimbledon as the No.17 seed against Ukrainian teenager Marta Kostyuk on Tuesday.
