Another British Tennis Player Retires - aged 25

Kate O'Brien aged 25 has announced her retirement, she achieved her highest ranking of 84 last year:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/tennis/14504083.stm

A few months ago Naomi Cavaday aged 22 announced her retirement and she achieved her highest ranking of 174, last year too:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Naomi_Cavaday

It's on record that Elena Baltacha, aged 27, is planning to retire next year:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/tennis/14390718.stm

...whilst murmurings from Anne Keothavong, aged 27, suggests she is on the cusp of announcing her retirement.


I wonder where this leaves Roger Drapers 2 thousand year master plan.

andy should do the same

Wasn't it autumn 2009 O'Brien reached 84? Not that it makes a lot of difference.

I think having got to that level largely by virtue of results on the ITF circuit she then stepped up into the big league and although she picked up one or two decent wins, she was generally out of her depth and the increasing number of defeats she started to suffer wrecked her confidence. Possibly this raises a question of whether her scheduling was correct or if it was too ambitious and should have included more of a mix of ITFs just to keep her level of wins up. It was reported at Wimbledon that injuries recently haven't helped her either.

To hers and maybe the LTA's credit she reached the top 100 through hard work and didn't (at least to my knowledge) have to go and train abroad like Robson and Watson. Having watched her play a few times I always found her game too error-prone for her to belong in the elite long-term - she could hit some great winners but also too many unforced errors.

It'd be sad to see Baltacha and Keothavong retire, although their ages suggest that it might not be too far away. I feel there is some hope for the future with Robson, Watson and further down the line possibly Eleanor Dean, but time will tell.

Good luck Katie for the future.

Priesty wrote:Wasn't it autumn 2009 O'Brien reached 84? Not that it makes a lot of difference. ...

Wiki (and WTA) has it as:
Highest ranking No. 84 (1 February 2010)
Current ranking No. 215 (20 June 2011)

Her ranking did fall off later in 2010 with a year end ranking of 180.

As you mention the step up from the ITF to the WTA circuit must be quite disheartening and so needs to be managed carefully - this seems to apply to all the British ladies (particularly Anne in the present). http://www.wtatennis.com/page/Player/Stats/0,,12781~6158,00.html

Yes good luck to Katie for the future

You're right Nore Staat - sorry - I'm thinking of when she cracked the top 100 which was in autumn 09. She did it by beating Mona Barthel in a match I watched at the Shrewsbury ITF, but it wasn't till her first and only Aussie Open main draw win over Patricia Mayr that she jumped up to 84.

Sad that she's quit but I can't say I'm altogether surprised. It was me who started a thread after her 1st round Wimbledon exit speculating on whether she'd be following Cavaday into retirement. The way she spoke after losing to Date-Krumm made it sound a distinct possibility.

This is such a sad sight to see players retiring this early. Where is the fight.

LK, not sure it's about the fight - it might just be about making a living. And there has to be easier ways than living out of a suitcase for little reward.
Does anyone know how much a lowly ranked British female player earns roughly?

The WTA link has the following prize money won by Katie O'Brien
This year: $34,474
Career: $525,141
This would include her winnings from doubles play (I assume these figures divide the prize money for doubles play but I don't know for sure).

Then there would be some LTA support I guess and perhaps some sponsorship (likely to be quite modest).

The expenses are presumably quite high: the travelling and accommodation, coaches fees, equipment fees, recovering from injury, general living expenses. Probably the greatest drawback is being demoralised by being easily beaten in qualifiers and first rounds of WTA tour tournaments and injuries.

Nigel Sears did such a good job with our girls, helping some of them into the top 100 even though O'Brien and Mel South didn't stay there long. I just hope his replacement (have they appointed anyone yet by the way?) can continue his good work.

Priesty wrote:Nigel Sears did such a good job with our girls, helping some of them into the top 100 even though O'Brien and Mel South didn't stay there long. I just hope his replacement (have they appointed anyone yet by the way?) can continue his good work.

The only information I could find dates back to 1 July when Roger Draper expressed his hope of having the new person in place by September.
"Lawn Tennis Association chief executive Roger Draper hopes to have Nigel Sears' successor as head of women's tennis in place by September":
http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/tennis/13989300.stm

An internet search didn't reveal any more recent news.