Dinara Safina Retires From Tennis

Dinara Safina is retiring from professional tennis. The 25-year-old former No. 1 has been suffering chronic back problems and has decided to call it quits.

Her brother, Marat Safin, said:

“Dinara has decided to end her career… She has taken the decision relatively well. She considers it just to be the end of a period in her life.”

The BBC reports that Safina was ranked No. 1 in the world back in April of 2009. Since then her career has been plagued by chronic problems. Safina played her last match last April in Madrid.

In August, Safina said that she wouldn’t play for the rest of the year because of her back. But it looks like the temporary hiatus has been extended indefinitely.

Safina said in August:

“I’m sorry to report that my back is still acting up. I will not be able to play until at least the end of the year. I don’t know how long my time out is going to last. I don’t want to torture myself and my body anymore. I’m just tired of fighting with myself. At the moment I can’t do anything tennis-wise. When I can do certain moves without feeling lots of pain, then I would consider resuming my training.”

Safina won a silver medal for Russia at the Beijing Olympics and has made three Grand Slam singles finals. She won 12 singles and nine doubles WTA titles in her career, but was never crowned a Grand Slam champion.

Her brother added:

“Everything is all right with her health. She feels good in everyday life, but she simply can’t play tennis professionally any more.”

Marat said that Safina would make an official announcement soon.

According to the BBC, Marat and Dinara are the only brother-sister combination to both reach the No.1 spot.

Will Dinara Safina be missed from the world of tennis?