BJORN BORG | Retired at 26: The Swede dominated tennis in the late 70s and early 80s. He abruptly announced his retirement in January 1983 at age 26, a decision generally attributed to burnout. He won the French Open six times and five successive Wimbledon crowns, before losing to his rival John McEnroe in the final of the US Open, a major tournament he never managed to win. Borg learned to play tennis at a very early age, and, by the time he was 13, he was beating Sweden’s top junior players. After retirement, Borg founded a sportswear company in the early 1990s.
Image Credit: Gulf News Archives
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ASHLEIGH BARTY | Retired at 25: Australian Ashleigh Barty stunned the tennis world when she announced her surprise retirement at age 25 just two months after winning the Australian Open. By this time she had won three Grand Slam singles titles and spent more than two consecutive years at No. 1 in the women's tennis rankings. Barty said she no longer feels compelled to do what she knows is required to be the best she can be at tennis, adding it was time to "chase other dreams."
Image Credit: AP
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MICHAEL PHELPS | Retired at 27: Michael Phelps, considered one of the greatest athletes of all time, won 28 medals in swimming at the Olympics, including 23 gold, before announcing his retirement at the age of 27. When Phelps won eight gold medals at the 2008 Beijing Games, he broke fellow American swimmer Mark Spitz's 1972 record of seven first-place finishes at any single Olympic Games. After the 2012 Olympics, Phelps retired from swimming, stating: "I'm done. I'm finished. I'm retired. I'm done. No more," and that "I just wanted to be done with swimming and didn't want anything to do with the sport anymore.” In 2014 he came out of retirement to take part in the 2016 Summer Olympics and continue his winning spree.
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MICHAEL JORDAN | Retired at 30: Widely considered the greatest all-round players in the history of basketball, Jordan led the Chicago Bulls to six NBA championships in the 1990s and was named the NBA's Most Valuable Player five times. In October 1993, at the age of 30 and after leading the Bulls to their third consecutive championship, Jordan retired briefly and pursued a career in professional baseball. He returned to basketball in March 1995 and retired again after the 1997-98 season. He remained close to the sport and returned to play again in 2001, before finally retiring after the 2002-03 season.
Image Credit: AP
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JUSTINE HENIN | Retired at 25: Henin was 25 and on top of the world rankings when the Belgian made the shock decision to retire in 2008 after seven Grand Slam titles. Henin spent 117 weeks as a top female tennis player. She retired for good from professional tennis on 26 January 2011. A chronic elbow injury was cited to be the reason for her retirement. The Belgian star won the French Open in 2003, 2005, 2006 and 2007, the US Open in 2003 and 2007 and the Australian Open in 2004. A title at Wimbledon evaded her, but she was the runner-up in 2001 and 2006.
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TRACY AUSTIN | Retired at 21: When she became the youngest player to win the US Open in 1979, Tracey Austin was just 16. The record is still intact in her name. The American had turned professional a year before. She won 30 singles titles during her career, including three Grand Slams. Austin later achieved the No 1 ranking in 1980, leaving behind greats such as Martina Navratilova and Chris Evert. She retired at the age of 21 in 1983, before attempting two comebacks subsequently.
Image Credit: AFP
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JENNIFER CAPRIATI | Retired at 28: Born in 1976, the former US world Number one player is a three-time Grand Slam winner. A holder of several youngest-ever records to her name, her triumphs in courts were celebrated as much as her tribulations off it, which included arrests for shoplifting and possession of narcotics. Capriati made her professional debut as a 13-year-old and won her first professional title, the Puerto Rico Open, in 1990. She finished the year ranked in the WTA top 10—the youngest player ever to do so. In 1992 she defeated Steffi Graf to capture a gold medal at the Summer Olympics in Barcelona.
Image Credit: AFP
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GABRIELLA SABATINI | Retired at 26: At age 13, Gabriela Sabatini left her native Argentina to train in the United States and by 1984, she became the world’s No. 1 ranked junior. Although she only won one Grand Slam title in her entire career, she still managed to garner a huge following in the 1980s to the mid-1990s. Glamorous both on and off the court, she enjoyed a great sporting rivalry with another tennis great of her era, Steffi Graf. She retired at the age of 26 after winning 41 titles, including the US Open in 1980, and a career-high ranking of three.
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MARTINA HINGIS | Retired at 27: During the 1990s, Hingis set a series of "youngest-ever" records, including youngest-ever Grand Slam champion and youngest-ever world No. 1. In 2003, at age 22, she developed ligament injuries in both ankles, forcing her to withdraw (though temporarily) from professional tennis. She had won 40 singles titles and 36 doubles titles and, according to Forbes, was the highest-paid female athlete in the world for five consecutive years, 1997 to 2001. After several surgeries and long recoveries, Hingis returned to the WTA Tour in 2006, climbing to world No. 6, winning two Tier I tournaments, and also receiving the Laureus World Sports Award for Comeback of the Year. After being hampered by a hip injury for several months, she retired in November 2007.
Image Credit: Supplied
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ERIC CANTONIA | Retired at 30: Man United legend Eric Cantona retired from football in 1997, during what many considered was a career high. The Frenchman's move was considered premature by the standards of that time. Cantona revealed his reason for the shock move: he had lost his passion for the game and felt unwilling to make the sacrifices that are necessary at the highest level in the game. His announcement, made at the conclusion of the 1996-97 season, came as a complete shock to all associated with Manchester United – including the players
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ANDY RODDICK | Retired at 30: Roddick reached his first career Grand Slam singles quarterfinal at the 2001 US Open. On November 3, 2003, Roddick became the World No. 1 for the first time. Throughout his career, Roddick won 32 ATP singles titles including one grand slam singles title and five ATP Masters 1000 singles titles. Roddick was also a four-time semi-finalist at the Australian Open and a three-time semi-finalist at the year-ending ATP World Tour Finals. Throughout his career, Roddick suffered from numerous injuries. After failing to advance past a Grand Slam singles quarterfinal since being ousted by Roger Federer in the 2009 Wimbledon final, he retired at age 30.
Image Credit: AP
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