Former world No. 1 and two-time Grand Slam winner Garbine Muguruza announced his retirement on Saturday after not competing in more than a year. “It’s time to say goodbye, it’s been a long and wonderful career, but I feel it’s time to retire,” Muguruza, 30, told a Laureus Awards press conference. “It’s been me step by step. Decision made.” Muguruza has not played since January 2023, when she played her last official match at the Lyon Open before retiring from the sport.

“When I stopped playing, I came home and I welcomed the break with open arms,” ​​said Muguruza, who ended her career with 10 singles titles.

“Every day, I feel better and I don’t miss the discipline and difficulty of my old life, so it’s a progressive thing.”

Muguruza made her WTA main draw debut in 2012 and reached her first Grand Slam final in 2015, but lost to Serena Williams at Wimbledon.

However, she won her first Grand Slam by defeating an American player at the French Open in 2016, and then defeated Venus Williams to win Wimbledon in 2017.

Muguruza’s victory in Paris made her the first Spanish woman to lift a Grand Slam trophy since Arancha Sánchez Vicario in 1998 in the French capital.

The following year, when she added Wimbledon to her collection of titles, she became the first Spanish woman to win at the All England Club since Conchita Martinez in 1994.

Fittingly, it was Martinez who guided her to the title, and two months later Muguruza was ranked No. 1 in the world.

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