Goerges retires from tennis with emotional letter

Julia Goerges made an unexpected announcement over social media on Wednesday: She's saying goodbye. The German broke her retirement news with a personal letter to tennis about how much the sport has meant to her since picking it up at five years old.

"I am writing to you, because I am ready to say 'Goodbye,'" the 31-year-old wrote. "When I started playing tennis at the age of 5, I would never have thought that we would go such a long way together."

During her 15 years on tour, she has done exceptionally well with seven WTA titles, a stint inside of the Top 10 and 17 wins over Top-10 opponents. Before fans bid adieu for good, let's take a look back at her career highlights.

1

First WTA Title Win

In 2010 when Goerges was 21, she claimed her first WTA title with a convincing straight-set win over Timea Bacsinszky at the Nurnberger Gastein Ladies tournament in Austria. She'd end that year inside of the Top 50 for the first time.

2

Roland Garros Mixed Doubles Finalist

Although Goerges and partner Nenad Zimonjic didn't take home the winner's trophy in 2014, the No. 8 seeds came awfully close in a 4-6, 6-2, 10-7 loss to Anna-Lena Groenefeld and Jean-Julien Rojer. It marks the farthest Goerges has gone at a major, having reached the semifinals in doubles and singles.

3

Two-time Auckland Champion

Goerges has showcased some of her best tennis at the start of the year. In Auckland in 2018, she defeated Caroline Wozniacki, who would go on to win the Australian Open later that month. In 2019, she would defend her title by defeating 2019 US Open champion Bianca Andreescu in the final.

4

Top 10 Debut

In 2018, after falling to Petra Kvitova in three tight sets in St. Petersburg's semifinal, Goerges would rise to world No. 10 and later on that season, she reached her career-high ranking of world No. 9. It marked a huge turnaround and second chapter of her career after she had fallen outside of the Top 100 in 2014.

5

Seven Top 50 Seasons

Goerges never captured a Grand Slam title, but she proved to be a consistent threat for many years on the WTA tour. She reached at least the fourth round at each of the majors and enjoyed her best run at Wimbledon in 2018 when she appeared in the semifinals.

The world No. 45's last match was in the second round of Roland Garros where she lost to Laura Siegemund.

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