Carlos Moya Officially Retires from Tennis

by Tom Gainey | November 17th, 2010, 2:23 pm
  • 8 Comments

Due to injury, former world No. 1 Carlos Moya officially announced his retirement from tennis earlier today at a news conference in Madrid, Spain.

Through a google translation, here’s what the 32-year-old Moya said:

“The reasons for my retirement due to a foot problem that I suffer for many years, osteoarthritis, from 20 years and operated on me to continue in April last year. I was seven or eight months out and I wanted try again.”


“I never got to recover. It went very well and because of that operation had side effects. I started having problems on the outside, a fracture, the tendon was also injured, and now 32 years there is no option.”

“I wanted to play major tournaments and saying goodbye, but I came to the tournament in Madrid, and although I was not 100% the desire I could. That game was not the dream and then I realized it was time. Ganas had many and I’ve sacrificed to get back, but I tried everything to heal and could not be.”

Hi everybody!about to announce my retirement oficcially in a press conference in 15 min!thanks everybody,you’ve been great!less than a minute ago via Twitter for BlackBerry®

The 34-year-old Moya won the 1998 French Open beating countryman Alex Corretja in straight sets in the final. He also was the runner-up to Pete Sampras at the 1997 Australian Open and helped Spain to the Davis Cup title in 2004.

Moya reached the No. 1 ranking on March 15, 1999 and he finishes with 20 career ATP titles and 575 match victories.

Moya was the first Spaniard to hit No. 1 and one of the first players to rock the sleeveless look and pull it off. He’s also the “original” man from Mallorca, but has since been succeeded by his good friend Rafael Nadal.

Moya and his girlfriend, actress Carolina Cerezuela, gave birth to daughter Carla on August 18.

Good luck Carlos! You’ll be missed!

Here’s video of Moya helping Nadal prepare for the London World Tour Finals.


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8 Comments for Carlos Moya Officially Retires from Tennis

skeezerweezer Says:

“Moya reached the No. 1 ranking on March 15, 1999 and he finishes with 20 career ATP titles and 575 match victories.”

Kudos to you Moya you’ll be missed


steve-o Says:

@skeezerweezer: seconded.


dari Says:

Good luck to Moya and everything in his life after tennis! We will miss you! I remember waking up early from a slumber party in sixth grade to watch the 1998 french open final with him and corretja. He was a part of one of my first tennis freak experiences!


jane Says:

Yes, good luck to Moya; he was an entertaining player to watch in his day and clearly an inspiration to Rafa. He will be missed knowing it’s official – though he’s been away for awhile.

dari, lol. We probably all have those.


montecarlo Says:

Can any spanish guy translate what Toni and Rafa speaking in their interviews?


Huh Says:

I like Moya n hope all will be well with him in the post-retirement phase.


i am it Says:

Tom Gainey,
I’d really appreciate if you could find the transcript of the interview in which McEnroe says the following at the Doha event (2 days ago?):
“Federer is one of the greatest players ever, but I don’t think he’s as good an athlete as those two [Borg and Nadal].”


i am it Says:

Tom,
One Reuters (Regan E. Doherty) piece covers that selectively. And UAE based Sport360 (Peter Townson) mentions the same interview with a different take, though inserting at one point, “Both Borg and McEnroe agreed Roger Federer may well be the best player the sport has ever seen […].” I am trying to find the original transcript of the entire interview.
Thank you so much.

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