Kafelnikov reportedly retires

Yevgeny Kafelnikov’s days on the ATP Tour look to be over with the former French and Australian Open champion telling a British newspaper he has decided to retire.

The 30-year-old Russian has not played a match in 13 months and told The Independent that he is done playing professional tennis.

“I have retired,” Kafelnikov told the paper. “But I have not officially announced it yet. Some people still think I am just taking a break, but I believe that my time in tennis has gone by. Even if I came back, I would have no chance to play at the level I was.

“Tennis is a young man’s sport right now. Obviously there are some exceptions, like (American Andre) Agassi. He’s 34 and still competing, but he’s the one and only. And I played 1,000 matches in my tennis career. That’s more than enough, no?”

Kafelnikov captured 26 singles titles and 27 doubles titles in his career. He also won a gold medal at the 2000 Olympics in Sydney and played on Russia’s Davis Cup title-winning side in 2002.