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Ana Ivanovic admits her retirement didn't come overnight and cites mental and physical exhaustion as the driving factors behind her decision to end her career relatively early.
After the 2016 season concluded, the former Serbian tennis star celebrated her 29th birthday in November of that year. Then, just days before the start of the 2017 season, the 2008 French Open champion announced that she was retiring from pro tennis.
While Ivanovic struggled with injuries in the final years of her career, her sudden retirement still came as a shock.
Ivanovic on her retirement: It had been building for a long time
Speaking with Croatian football manager Slaven Bilić for the (Ne)uspjeh Prvaka podcast, the former one-time Grand Slam champion admitted that she always knew she wouldn't have a long career.
"It had been building for a long time. I remember that when I was in my twenties, I said I wasn't the kind of person who would play until I was 40. That never appealed to me because I knew there were other things I wanted to do in life," Ivanovic said.
Ivanovic: I was mentally exhausted and constantly battled inflammation
During the same conversation, Ivanovic recalled suffering a very unfortunate injury just before the start of the 2015 Australian Open. What initially was a toe injury gradually became a much bigger problem as the Serb started dealing with knee issues and constantly playing through pain.
"I started 2015 really well... Then I went to the Australian Open and one morning, two or three days before the tournament, I walked out of the bathroom, hit my foot against the door and broke my little toe. I decided to play while taking painkillers, but I just couldn't. Then the problem spread to my knee - I started having knee pain - and little by little it all led to me becoming mentally exhausted and constantly battling inflammation," the 2008 French Open champion added.
Ivanovic also admitted that, at the time, she simply knew she no longer had what it took to return to the very top of the game.
"Deep down, I no longer had the feeling that I could get back to the very top," the former world No. 1 noted.
At the end of the conversation, Ivanovic also revealed that she battled panic attacks toward the end of her career.
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