Taiwanese tennis veteran Latisha Chan, who yesterday announced her retirement, is to be honored at a ceremony at the Australian Open on Saturday.
Inactive for the past two years because of injury, the 36-year-old Chan was once considered one of Taiwan’s most promising young tennis stars.
She in a statement said that she had no regrets about her tennis career, calling herself “very lucky” to achieve what she did despite her physical limitations.
Photo: CNA
She was likely referring to her diagnosis of postural tachycardia syndrome (POTS) in 2014, which led her to shift her focus from singles to doubles competition, a Radio Taiwan International report said.
Chan won one women’s doubles Grand Slam, the 2017 US Open paired with Martina Hingis, and three Grand Slam mixed doubles titles — the French Open in 2018 and 2019, and Wimbledon in 2019.
She also competed in four Olympic Games, and won five gold, three silver and one bronze medal in five Asian Game appearances.
Photo grab from latishayjchan IG
Her last full season was in 2023, when she and sister Chan Hao-ching reached the final of the WTA 1000 Dubai Tennis Championships and the quarter-finals of the French Open.
Latisha Chan came back to play in the Paris Olympics in late July 2024 with her sister, but lost in the opening round to the Czech Republic’s Barbora Krejcikova and Katerina Siniakova.
Latisha Chan continued to train over the past two years in hopes of returning to the court, but her struggles with POTS and the intensity needed to keep fit made it clear to her that “it was time” to retire from a career that began professionally in 2004, she said.
She has already begun preparing for the next chapter of her career, including obtaining a Level A coaching certificate from the Chinese Taipei Tennis Association.
When Latisha Chan is honored at the retirement ceremony at the Australian Open, she would be the first player from Taiwan to receive such recognition at a Grand Slam tournament.
Australian Open CEO Craig Tiley suggested the retirement ceremony last year after learning about her retirement plans, and she accepted, Latisha Chan said.
It would be especially meaningful, because she believes the launching point of her career was winning the 2004 Australian Open Junior Championships women’s doubles title, she said.
Latisha Chan, who began playing tennis at age six, won 32 WTA women’s doubles titles and reached the world No. 1 ranking in women’s doubles in 2017 during a magical year partnered with Hingis, when the duo won eight doubles titles.
Her highest singles ranking was No. 50.
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