Alexandr Dolgopolov announces his farewell to the sport on May 1, 2021, and further talks about his future plans.
The Ukrainian player turned professional in 2006 and after a journey of 16-long-years dropped his racket on the ground. As for the past two years, the former World No.13 failed to make a comeback in tennis because of his injuries.
"It was an extraordinary journey, the length of my entire life… I hope it was interesting for you to watch, because it was damn interesting for me to play my tennis."
Congratulations on your fabulous career, @TheDolgo. 👏
— ATP Tour (@atptour) May 1, 2021
Dolgopolov last took part in the 2018 Rome Masters, where he reached the semi-finals against Novak Djokovic. However, the Ukrainian wasn’t aware that the match against the Serb could be his last match. The 32-year-old had a wrist injury three years back, which seemed like a minor injury at the moment. But the injury became the cause that finished his tennis career.
Alexandr Dolgopolov lost to Novak Djokovic in the 2018 Internazionali BNL d’Italia.
The Ukrainian claimed not to return to the sport soon and spent his time with his family and a new career apart from tennis. Dolgopolov said, “I am not going to return to the sport over the next five or 10 years”
“I need to get away from tennis balls. I first picked up a racquet when I was barely walking. I now need some time off from the sport. At the moment, I think I will pursue a business career.” He further added.
How was Alexandr Dolgopolov as a player?
The Ukrainian was a ‘fun to watch’ player, who was more interested to entertain his audience than claiming titles. However, Dolgopolov was an exceptional player who claimed his place in the top 20 in just three years.
Alexandr Dolgopolov of Ukraine claimed the 2017 Argentina Open against Kei Nishikori of Japan.
“I hope I was fun to watch,” said Dolgopolov. “I never broke any tennis records, but I hope I played entertaining tennis for fans. My wrist injury happened in Australia [three years ago] after mis-hitting a return in practice. I felt pain, but nothing serious. I reached the Australian Open third round and returned to Europe, but I never realized that it would be career-ending. I’ve tried for a couple of years, had two surgeries and I still have pain.”
Alexandr Dolgopolov hanging out with his former coach Jack Reader during the 2011 Australian Open.
Even Alexandr’s former coach Jack Reader mentioned once he told the player to work harder to move higher than the 13th Ranking. However, the Ukrainian responded, “So do I need to work harder, Jack?”, which was a disappointing answer for the coach. Further, Reader also claimed Dolgopolov can only perform at his best when he was happy.
It was an amazing experience to witness the phenomenal performance of Alexandr Dolgopolov. Now we might see the former player doing wonders in business.
