Nicholas Kiefer hangs up his boots
Nicholas Kiefer, the former world number 4 from Germany, has retired from international tennis with immediate effect.
The reports of his retirement were made public in an interview which was published in a German magazine Die Wall, on Thursday.
32-year-old Kiefer stated that he was quitting tennis to spend more time with his baby daughter. However, the former star player pledged to continue pursuing sports as an over-32 player of the Hanover 96 football club, and his sports management studies.
According to Kiefer, he had been contemplating retiring from international tennis over the past many days. "It is time to start a new chapter in life after 15 years. Come on Kiwi, you had a super career, met many great people, saw many countries and learnt
a lot. It's enough. Now you are a father and have a daughter," Kiefer said.
Once hailed as a successor of the legendary Boris Becker, Kiefer enjoyed immense success when he became junior champion of the US and Australian Opens in 1995. By 2000, he was ranked number four in the world and was on his way towards becoming one of the
game’s legends. He also has an Olympic doubles silver medal from 2004. In addition to this, he won six ATP Tour tournaments. However, a string of injuries combined with lacklustre performances became the underlying reason for his fall from grace. He is currently
ranked 722nd in the world.
The German who is also known to have tennis superstitions such as tapping the racquet on the court after winning a point, and specifically asking for the ball with which he has just won a point for re-use, was last seen in action in 2009. He was defeated
in the Sony Ericsson Cup in Miami in the second round by Roger Federer. He also lost his second round match of the US Open to Rafael Nadal before finally saying goodbye to Tennis.
With his retirement, Kiefer has also been automatically disqualified from representing Germany in the Hopman Cup. After a decade and a half of professional Tennis, the game has bid adieu to one of its stars.
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