Swede Soderling retires from tennis

Former world number four Robin Soderling has retired from tennis after suffering glandular fever since 2011.

The 31-year-old Swede, who became the first man to beat Rafael Nadal at the French Open in 2009, has not recovered sufficiently to return to the sport.

Soderling reached the French Open finals of 2009 and 2010.

“I’ve realised that I will not be healthy enough to be able to play tennis at the level I demand of myself,” Soderling told tennis.se.

“For that reason I have decided to end my career as a professional tennis player.”

The Swede, who also reached the quarter-finals at Wimbledon and the US Open, had hoped to return to competitive action but has finally admitted defeat.

“A few weeks before the Swedish Open in Bastad in 2011 I became ill with glandular fever,” added Soderling.

“Since I was not aware of the seriousness of this, I made the mistake of continuing to train and compete with the virus in my body, which resulted in a sharp overtraining syndrome. I have since struggled to recover completely from this.

“With the disease it has been impossible for me to train 100% and I was forced to rest after any physical effort. In some periods I felt so bad that I was completely bed-ridden.

“This past year, however, my health improved and I have been able to increase my exercise levels, but my recovery after exercise is unfortunately still not as I would like.”

Soderling played his final match in July, 2011, beating Spain’s David Ferrer to win the Swedish Open in Bastad.

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Kvitova's 2015 of highs and lows

A strange year of highs and lows has ended on a wonderful note after my boyfriend Radek took me by surprise and asked me to marry him, so Christmas will be even more special this year.

It’s a lovely end to 12 months that have seen me go from winning titles to struggling for motivation, suffering with glandular fever and then finding my form again.

In the last few weeks I’ve been able to enjoy some time at home with my boyfriend and see my brothers and their kids, and I even managed to get all my Christmas shopping done early, which makes me very happy.

I like shopping, but when I see so many people in the malls it’s not so appealing!

The last time I hit a ball in competition was at the Fed Cup final five weeks ago, but after resuming fitness training earlier this month I was back on the practice court in my home town of Prostejov on 16 December.

A new season is just around the corner.

‘Squash, badminton, swimming, paddle tennis…’

I had three weeks off after the Fed Cup final and took my parents to Dubai for a few days. It was their first visit and really fun, although it flew past so quickly, but I’m glad they saw somewhere new and we were able to enjoy it together.

It was then time for me to start preparing for 2016 and I headed to Lanzarote for the first time with my fitness trainer, David Vydra.

We didn’t do a lot of running but instead tried pretty much everything else over the course of a week. In the morning we would go biking and then in the afternoon we did other sports like squash, badminton, swimming, paddle tennis, volleyball…

Playing other racquet sports is a very different experience and I must admit I didn’t like squash that much – I played for the first time and it was difficult for me. I prefer badminton.

We also bumped into my fellow Czech, Jan Zelezny, the three-time Olympic javelin champion who was out there coaching three or four guys. He’s very famous in the Czech Republic and a very good guy. Javelin and tennis are about the only sports I didn’t try in Lanzarote.

I did play an exhibition in Bratislava after the Fed Cup final but I stepped back onto court properly last week in Prostejov and just about managed to put the ball in the court!

You don’t forget that so quickly, although it does take a few days to get your rhythm and feel OK again with no pain in the arm.

‘Beating Serena was a great moment for me’

As I said before, it was a strange season but one with plenty of highlights. There was Madrid, where I beat Serena – that was a great moment for me – and went on to win the title, and also the US Open was good for me this year as I reached the quarter-finals.

I’d never really played that well in New York and I finally had some good results. I hope to have more success there; I’m trying every year and despite it being difficult conditions for me, I now know I can play well there if I am healthy.

The high point of my year was the Fed Cup at the end of the season as we beat Russia in Prague to defend our title again.

Unfortunately I didn’t win my second singles match against Maria Sharapova, but I think it was really great tennis. The tie came down to a deciding doubles and it is difficult watching such an important match from the sidelines.

You really can’t do anything except support and be with your team-mates. Karolina Pliskova and Barbora Strycova needed three sets and there were a lot of nerves out there, but I’m really glad that the girls made it.

It’s a team competition and we really showed that we won as a team and not one individual.

‘Andy was just great in the Davis Cup’

A few years ago I was kind of the big player in the Czech team and the one expected to win most of the points, and I think that was what Andy Murray experienced for Great Britain in this year’s Davis Cup.

When I see the Czech Davis Cup team it’s very similar, with Tomas Berdych leading the way like Andy does for Britain.

I watched a little bit of the final and it was very emotional how Andy won it. He was just great. But of course he needs the team to win the Davis Cup. He can’t win it by himself. And he plays with his brother, which is very unusual and special.

It is very different representing your country as a tennis player. The week is always great and we have a fantastic atmosphere in the Fed Cup team among the players and support staff, which I think not every team enjoys. As the girls we are a good group. Nothing there is a problem.

Whatever we go through during the week, by the time the weekend comes around we are supporting each other from the bench.

‘That passion for tennis is still there’

The tennis season is long and I think I lost a little bit of emotion for the sport at the beginning of this year. It was weird to be feeling empty on court and without any passion or love for the sport.

I took a month out and after the break I felt that passion again, which was a relief as I had been a little bit worried.

Tennis has been the major part of my life since I was 16 or 17 and moved to Prostejov, and I had to ask for an individual plan at secondary school so that I could train for tennis and play tournaments. I might have missed out on a few things along the way but I was OK with it.

It was difficult to finish school for sure, it was tough, but on the other side I’m really glad that I made it. That passion for tennis is still there, which is great.

Hopefully I can put my health issues behind me as well. I could still play despite the glandular fever but not practise as much as I wanted – but then I’m not a player who needs to practise for four hours a day. It was good that I was able to handle the situation mentally as well as physically.

I’m healthy right now and practising again, injury free, but we’ll see. Let’s hope it stays like this and 2016 can be a successful year.

Petra Kvitova was talking to BBC Sport’s Piers Newbery

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Best Of 2015 First Quarter

Best Of 2015 First Quarter

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Angelique Kerber: 2016 Preview

Angelique Kerber spent much of 2015 making up for lost time – or should that be titles? – triumphing in Charleston, Stuttgart, Birmingham and Stanford. The next test is replicating this form at the Slams.

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Best Of 2015 Player Retirements

Best Of 2015 Player Retirements

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Best Of 2015 First Time Winners

Best Of 2015 First Time Winners

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GB captain plans Davis Cup legacy

Davis Cup captain Leon Smith says Great Britain can build on their success and inspire a new generation of players.

GB won the team of the year award and Andy Murray was voted BBC Sports Personality of the Year on Sunday.

Murray has previously said that talking to the Lawn Tennis Association about the future of British tennis was “a waste of time”.

But Smith said: “We’ve had really good discussions with everyone at the LTA recently to really take it up a gear.”

He added: “On the court, we need to keep winning but off the court we have a great chance to do something.”

LTA plans for 2016 include taking the Davis Cup trophy on tour and issuing 10,000 free junior tennis racquets.

Taking the trophy on tour & free tennis lessons

Recruitment will start in January for a team of 1,000 coaches to deliver 10,0000 free junior tennis courses where free racquets will be offered.

Fifty different venues across Britain will have the chance to host the Davis Cup trophy in their local community, park or club, with some surprise visits from players.

“We want to try to inspire as many young people as possible to get into the sport, and more importantly stay in the sport,” said Smith.

“Part of the legacy is training up as many grassroots coaches as possible to help them. That first interaction with a coach at school or the local club, I think all of us can help that story.

“We talk about showcasing our support. I think what we can do for our first round match against Japan in Birmingham in March is pretty amazing – the lead-up to the event, the event itself, and afterwards. It will be packed for that tie, and with Andy confirmed to play, it’s going to give us a lot of momentum.”

Defending the title

Murray, who went 11 games unbeaten in the winning 2015 run, is committed to playing in the first round of the title defence.

But Smith knows he may be without him should GB make July’s quarter-finals, which are sandwiched between Wimbledon and the 28-year-old Scot’s defence of his Olympic title.

“It’s a huge challenge. The nature of the competition is it is determined by who plays for each nation in any given year,” said Smith.

“It’s very, very busy especially for the likes of Andy who is going to be featuring in the latter stages of the biggest tournaments, it’s tough to fit it all in.

“We’ll see how it goes because once you start in the competition, when these group of players get together, the bond stays pretty close. It’s a great feeling.

“We’ve got a strong team, and in the years before had some very big wins, notably against the likes of Russia (in 2013) when Andy wasn’t playing.”

Smith said he was keen to avoid the mistakes of some previous Davis Cup winners that fielded a below-strength side in their first round match the following year, and faced a relegation tie after losing.

“The most important thing is we win that first round tie, which brings us into the quarter-finals again and it guarantees World Group status for the following year, which is very important as we try to build on what we have achieved,” he added.

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