Former Top 10 player Goerges retires

Reuters

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Former Top 10 singles player Julia Goerges announced her retirement on Wednesday.

Goerges won seven career singles titles and was ranked No. 9 in the world as recently as August of 2018. She is currently ranked No. 45.

The 31-year-old German made the announcement on her Instagram account in both German and English.

"When I started playing tennis at the age of five, I would never have thought that we would go such a long way together," Goerges wrote. "You have given me so many different types of emotions throughout our journey and I am very thankful for everything you have shown and taught me. I learned how to deal with the toughest losses but also enjoy the most amazing wins of my career, to fight back many times when I was struggling with you and through it all, we never lost sight of our dreams.

"I always knew how I would feel when it is time to say goodbye to you, and that moment has arrived. I am ready to close the tennis chapter of my life and open a new one."

Goerges' top Grand Slam run occurred at Wimbledon in 2018 when she reached the semifinals before losing to Serena Williams.

Goerges' final tournament was the recent French Open where she defeated American Alison Riske in the first round before falling to fellow German Laura Siegemund in the second round on Oct. 1.

Goerges also won five doubles titles during her career.