Breaking News

Nathalie Dechy, the 30-year-old French veteran, has retired from professional tennis effective immediately to start a family with her husband, Antoine Maitre-Devallon. The French tennis federation exclusively reported that Dechy is expecting her first child and wishes to focus on being a mother away from the constant grind of professional athletics.

Although statistics would not describe Dechy's 16 year professional career as overly lucrative, Dechy possesses a beautiful game that often troubled highly ranked opponents. Winning her only career title in 2003 at Gold Coast, Dechy was also a successful doubles player, winning the US Open two straight years in 2006 and 2007 (with different partners) and the Roland Garros mixed doubles title in 2007 as well.



Though Nathalie's current ranking stands at a modest 88 in the world, she always had the capability to be a quietly dangerous player - as evidenced by her 2005 run to the Australian Open semifinals. I wish her all the best in her off-court pursuits and will genuinely miss her refreshing style of play.