Ana Ivanovic retires: Tennis community pays tribute to former World No 1

Former World No 1 Ana Ivanovic announced her retirement on Wednesday. Her playing career spanned 13 years, and saw her win the 2008 French Open and 15 WTA singles titles. The 29-year-old made the decision because she believes she is no longer in ’top physical form’, and posted a statement on Twitter to explain the decision to her fans:

Ivanovic’s decision came as a shock to many, and several in the tennis fraternity expressed their thoughts on social media after the announcement.

The WTA commemorated her retirement with a video montage:

Doubles World No 1 Sania Mirza tweeted her support to Ivanovic:

22-time grand slam winner Serena Williams said she’ll miss Ivanovic’s smile:

Victoria Azarenka reminisced the ‘fun’ clashes they shared:

Belinda Bencic bid farewell to her ‘idol’:

Petra Kvitova, who is reovering from injury after being the victim of a knife attack, also tweeted her support:

Caroline Wozniacki chimed in with her support for Ivanovic:

Tennis legends Chris Evert, Boris Becker and Billie Jean King had kind words for the Serbian as well: