America's Taylor Dent retires from tennis
America's Taylor Dent very recently communicated his retirement from tennis. Ranked no. 21, Dent achieved his highest ever World ranking in August, 2008. Furthermore, prior to retiring, the professional was ranked no. 85 in the World.
Taylor underwent three major surgeries in the year 2006 through 2007 as he had recurring back issues caused by injury.
Dent stated that he'd have a talk with his wife every year regarding his future. In the words of Taylor himself, "It's the deal we have had since my comeback, that at the end of the year we sit down and have a scheduled talk about whether to go forward or retire.
I've been playing for 12 years now and I met a lot of my goals, almost all my goals after coming back from the surgeries and the time seemed perfect".
Additionally, he exclaimed, "I've got a son and a strong desire to be a family man. Pro tennis is a grueling schedule and it gets pretty tough after a while. My body was able to hang in there, a testament to my surgeon, but at the end of the day it's just a
lot of little things".
Taylor bagged four Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) titles during his career. Dent defeated compatriot James Blake 6–1, 4–6, 6–4 at the Hall of Fame Tennis Championships in the year 2002.
Additionally, the former professional annihilated USA's Andy Roddick (who was ranked no. 1 at the time) 6–1 and 6–4 at the 2003 Regions Morgan Keegan Championships and the Cellular South Cup.
The American also defeated Spain's Juan Carlos Ferrero 6–3 and 7–6(5) at the 2003 PTT Thailand Open to clinch the tournament title. That same year, Taylor also bagged the 2003 Kremlin Cup title thrashing Armenia's Sargis Sargsian 7–6(5) and 6–4.
Noted to be one of the very few contemporary players to favour a serve-and-volley style of play, Taylor was known for his strong and fast serves. In addition, he was amongst the likes of Andy Roddick and Ivo Karlovic to have produced a serve as fast as 243
km/h.
The former professional furthermore stated, "There are things I'll regret that didn't turn out as I wished, the top prizes — being ranked No. 1 or winning a Grand Slam. Those would have been incredibly special. But as I look back I think I always gave myself
a chance to do my best. So I'm proud of that".
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