Maryna Zanevska, the 2021 Gdynia champion, has announced that she will say goodbye to tennis "for now" following this year's US Open.
The 29-year-old Belgian wrote on social media that her decision was due to struggling with back pain for the past four years, but left the door open for a potential return.
"It's time to say goodbye for tennis for now," Zanevska wrote. "I have been struggling with back pain for the last four years, and I got to the point where I can't give to tennis what's requiring to be competitive on the highest level of this extremely difficult, demanding sport.
"I have decided to play US Open as my final tournament before stepping away from my career. And who knows what’s future holds for me. Will I ever make comeback on tour or will have other challenges in life? I don't know that, but what I know for sure is that I am happy and released with my decision and having so much exciting plans."
Zanevska, who was born in Odesa, Ukraine, was a standout junior. She was the girls' doubles champion at the 2009 US Open with Valeria Solovyeva and at Roland Garros 2011 with Irina Khromacheva. Though she first came close to cracking the Top 100 in 2013, when she reached No.107, it took Zanevska until October 2021 to break that barrier.
A key result that year was Zanevska's first Hologic WTA Tour title on the clay of Gdynia in August. Ranked No.165, her smooth groundstrokes and neat drop shots took down a series of opponents including Nuria Parrizas Diaz, Kateryna Baindl and Kristina Kucova en route to the trophy.
Zanevska was also the 2022 Rouen WTA 125 champion on indoor hard courts, defeating Caty McNally and Viktorija Golubic along the way. She ended both 2021 and 2022 inside the Top 100, peaking at No.62 in May 2022, and made the second round of both the Australian Open and US Open in 2022. Zanevska owns five Top 50 wins, including over Elise Mertens at Hobart 2023 and Zhang Shuai at Lyon 2023.
Currently ranked No.114, Zanevska also owns her own candle-making business, Savage Love Candles.
