A Caribbean girl/French woman retires

...Dechy was not the most tremendous achiever in tennis. I say this against the backdrop of comparisons to such high achievers as the Williams sisters and Steffi Graf. Some players, like Graf, seem to wait until their tennis life is over before than can go on to other pursuits. Players like Dechy combined tennis with other pleasures. If I had to choose, I could not imagine having Graf’s single-mindedness, even though I truly admire it. I am more like Dechy. I like to enjoy a nice glass of wine on my days off.

Dechy’s best year was 2005. I remember when she emerged looking fitter than ever with a clearly improved game that took her to the 12th spot in singles ranking. She came so close to beating Lindsay Davenport at the Australian Open that year. She was also a tremendous doubles player. Her more recent wins include the 2007 French Open mixed doubles with Andy Ram, and the US Open doubles with Dinara Safina that same year. Dechy was elected to the Players Council (2004), proof positive of her ability to get along with most and intelligently argue for the needs of fellow players....

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