Players who sent their opponents into retirement for their final match

Aussie Darcy

Bionic Poster
Doing a thread to post the winners who defeated retiring players in their final match.

Example:
Hubert Hurkacz was the last player to defeat Federer in singles thus ending his career.

Some others high profile ones:
Del Potro defeated Roddick in his final match
Del Potro ALSO defeated Marat Safin in his final match
Nadal ended Nalbandians career
Svletana Kuznetsova defeated Henin before her final retirement
Zverev sent Ferrer into retirement
Ferrer had earlier in his career been the one to send Hewitt into retirement
Hewitt had previously sent Ivanisevic into retirement.

Ruud ended Tsonga's career
Ajla Tomljanovic ended Serena Williams career
Jenson Brooskby defeated Berdych in his last match
Donna Vekic defeated Sharapova before she retired
Almagro finished Juan Carlos Ferrero
Struff finished up Haas' long career
Harmony Tan ended Stosur's stellar run
Benjamin Becker stunned Agassi to finish his epic career


Pete Sampras and Ash Barty had nobody send them into retirement after winning titles before retiring.

Quite a lot of big names ending fellow big players careers. DelPo, Nadal, Kuznetsova, Zverev, Ferrer, Hewitt.

Feel free to post more. Did Federer or Djokovic or Serena or any other big names defeat a big player in their final match?
 
Doing a thread to post the winners who defeated retiring players in their final match.

Example:
Hubert Hurkacz was the last player to defeat Federer in singles thus ending his career.

Some others high profile ones:
Del Potro defeated Roddick in his final match
Del Potro2 ALSO defeated Marat Safin in his final match
Nadal ended Nalbandians career
Svletana Kuznetsova defeated Henin before her final retirement
Zverev sent Ferrer into retirement
Ferrer had earlier in his career been the one to send Hewitt into retirement
Hewitt had previously sent Ivanisevic into retirement.

Ruud ended Tsonga's career
Ajla Tomljanovic ended Serena Williams career
Jenson Brooskby defeated Berdych in his last match
Donna Vekic defeated Sharapova before she retired
Almagro finished Juan Carlos Ferrero
Struff finished up Haas' long career
Harmony Tan ended Stosur's stellar run
Benjamin Becker stunned Agassi to finish his epic career


Pete Sampras and Ash Barty had nobody send them into retirement after winning titles before retiring.

Quite a lot of big names ending fellow big players careers. DelPo, Nadal, Kuznetsova, Zverev, Ferrer, Hewitt.

Feel free to post more. Did Federer or Djokovic or Serena or any other big names defeat a big player in their final match?

Tsonga basically ended Henman‘s career. Henman played one round robin thing after but his USO loss to Jo was it as far as the ATP tour.

Rafter ended Boris, at 1999 W.

Nadal ended the The Little Boy inside Meds at the 2021 AO. The Little Boy stopped dreaming. :(

I don’t think it’s accurate to say Becker stunned Agassi. I think from having been at the matches it was more Pavel and Baggy beat up aging (and in pain and taking cortisone injections) Agassi during two grueling matches and Agassi was done after the Baggy match; Becker just had to push him over. It was sad but no one that saw or was aware of the nature of the prior matches and/or was aware of Agassi’s condition was stunned.
 
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Alexander Volkov--Borg @ Kremlin Cup '93

@asifallasleep

" In two years and 12 tournaments after coming out of retirement, the 11-time Grand Slam champion didn’t manage to win a single match. "

 
It's hard to find cause the WTA website is so trash and doesn't seem to show matches for older players but looks like Azarenka was the one to defeat Hingis in her final singles match. (so hard to find since Hingis kept coming in and out of retirement for doubles).
 
It's hard to find cause the WTA website is so trash and doesn't seem to show matches for older players but looks like Azarenka was the one to defeat Hingis in her final singles match. (so hard to find since Hingis kept coming in and out of retirement for doubles).
 
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dunno if I'd call that a stunner, Agassi needed 5 sets to beat Baghdatis and his back was in pieces. im surprised his loss to Becker was even competitive.

And Baggy was after a brutal win over Pavel. That Agassi was well enough to play Becker was an achievement; that Agassi took it to four sets was arguably stunning. That he lost was definitely not stunning.
 
I was embarrassed for him, watching Hewitt go off at the Umpire in his final match against Ferrer lol... Though I can't remember what it was for, or if he was even in the right...

All else I can remember is that they swapped shirts or at least tried to, Hewitt had a difficult time understanding.
 
McEnroe wrote in his book that Borg's premature retirement at the age of 24 was basically due to his consecutive defeat of him at both Wimbledon and US final in 1981.
 
I was curious to see who the last player to beat Sampras was. It was Paul Henri Matthieu.

2nd last was Wayne Arthurs
Scraping at the bottom of the barell. Thread is about being beaten in last matches, you have to go to last match lost because nobody beat him.
 
I remember this. I think Hingis was only supposed to be in for doubles (of course) but ended up playing a surprise singles rubber because the Swiss side had three of their singles players out with injuries.

But this wasn't Hingis' final singles match. That was her three set loss to Urszula Radwanska the next day. For some reason there is no video of that match at all on YouTube.
 
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McEnroe wrote in his book that Borg's premature retirement at the age of 24 was basically due to his consecutive defeat of him at both Wimbledon and US final in 1981.
Does Mac say how he knows this?

Did Borg say something to him later?
 
Does Mac say how he knows this?

Did Borg say something to him later?
That is my understanding reading the book. Mac writes Borg stopped trying in their 1981 US Final match, Borg's saying being number 1 and being number 2 are totally different things etc. Sorry if I sounded too definitive though.
 
a distinction has to be made. final match before retirement is not the same as sending someone to retirement. the lines are blurred. we knew that was roddicks last match for example
 
A totally false premise post!

The premise is that the loss was just too much for the player to bear, and pushed them to retirement.
We know this wasn't the case for Federer at all.

You've got to try a little harder next time Darcy.
 
  • Cedric Pioline d. Stefan Edberg at 1996 Davis Cup Final
  • Andrei Medvedev d. Pat Cash at 1997 Stuttgart Masters
  • Thomas Enquist d. Jim Courier at 2000 Miami Masters
  • Fernando Gonzales d. Michael Chang at 2003 US Open
  • Dominic Thiem d. Thomas Muster at 2011 Erste Bank Open (Vienna)
 
Firstly, I should state up front that I support your "dislike" initiatiive.

But secondly, what disgusts you here? :unsure:
I dunno, man, you just seem to have a hard-on for a certain player, and giggle like a schoolgirl at his past losses, and at the prospect of future ones. It won't have anything to do with the beatdowns the said player laid on your hero when both were at their absolute top, would it? If it makes you feel better, Fed (even before the reverse beatdowns of 2017) was and remains a genius and firmly one of the co-GOATs. I mean should we not be fans of tennis first, and of tennis players second? I hope hating on "not your fave" should be at least tertiary.

Anyway, if you a going to hate, at least do it in style. Look at @vive le beau jeu ! - every post of his practically drips with panache. I don't think I ever reached for a non-existant "disgust" button when reading his masterpieces, may have even liked one or two. There is of course a theory that he is a RaFan, trying to blend in deep behind enemy lines... But either way, the man is an artiste. You, sir, are no artiste.

End of.
 
  • Cedric Pioline d. Stefan Edberg at 1996 Davis Cup Final
  • Andrei Medvedev d. Pat Cash at 1997 Stuttgart Masters
  • Thomas Enquist d. Jim Courier at 2000 Miami Masters
  • Fernando Gonzales d. Michael Chang at 2003 US Open
  • Dominic Thiem d. Thomas Muster at 2011 Erste Bank Open (Vienna)
Had no idea Muster played that late?
 
I dunno, man, you just seem to have a hard-on for a certain player, and giggle like a schoolgirl at his past losses, and at the prospect of future ones. It won't have anything to do with the beatdowns the said player laid on your hero when both were at their absolute top, would it? If it makes you feel better, Fed (even before the reverse beatdowns of 2017) was and remains a genius and firmly one of the co-GOATs. I mean should we not be fans of tennis first, and of tennis players second? I hope hating on "not your fave" should be at least tertiary.

Anyway, if you a going to hate, at least do it in style. Look at @vive le beau jeu ! - every post of his practically drips with panache. I don't think I ever reached for a non-existant "disgust" button when reading his masterpieces, may have even liked one or two. There is of course a theory that he is a RaFan, trying to blend in deep behind enemy lines... But either way, the man is an artiste. You, sir, are no artiste.

End of.
Well look. While I'd love to please everyone, I recognize that life doesn't really allow for it.

And don't get me wrong: You strike me as an insightful fellow. Would love to be able to make your day better.

The simple fact of the matter is that not just everyone can be nam416.

But we can try. And we can learn.
 
This year:
Cerundolo finished Kevin Anderson
Kukushkin finished Kohlschreiber
FAA finished Gilles Simon
Hanfmann finished Seppi
Zapata Miralles finished Robredo
Ivashka finished Querrey

Earlier:
Sugita finished Tipsarevic (2019)
Berrettini finished Baghdatis (2019)
RBA finished Youzhny (2018)
Goffin finished Stepanek (2017)
Feliciano Lopez finished Fish (2015)
Haase finished Davydenko (2014)
Karlovic finished Blake (2013)
Dodig finished Ljubicic (2012)
Mahut finished Gonzalez (2012)

Both Nieminen and Soderling haven't been finished properly.
 
Well look. While I'd love to please everyone, I recognize that life doesn't really allow for it.

And don't get me wrong: You strike me as an insightful fellow. Would love to be able to make your day better.

The simple fact of the matter is that not just everyone can be nam416.

But we can try. And we can learn.
Flattery will get you anywhere, mon ami.
 
#10 ranked Magnus Gustafsson beat McEnroe 6-2, 7-6 in Rotterdam(R32) in his last match.
#41 ranked Bernd Karbacher beat Lendl 6-4, 7-6, 1-0(Lendl retired) at the USO(R64) in his last match.

These aren't cases of these players "sending" those two legends into retirement. That premise is actually ridiculous.

Heck, I don't even believe that McEnroe is the reason that Borg retired either, even though I was a huge fan of McEnroe back then. That was a matter of tennis burnout for Borg.
 
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