Former world number one Ana Ivanovic has retired from professional tennis, aged 29.

The Serbian, who won the French Open in 2008, has struggled with injury problems in 2016, winning only 15 matches, and did not play on the WTA Tour after the US Open in August.

She said in a live announcement on her official Facebook page yesterday: “I have some big news I want to share with you. I have not announced it anywhere else because I think you deserve to hear it first. So what is it? Well, there is no other way to say it – I have decided to retire from professional tennis.”

After suffering a fifth straight loss in the opening round of the US Open in August, Ivanovic insisted she was not thinking of retiring, but subsequently announced she was calling time on her 2016 season in a bid to allow wrist and toe injuries to fully heal.

Ivanovic had posted pictures of herself back in training in December and was one of the highest-profile players to compete in this year’s International Premier Tennis League in Asia.

However, the Serbian had fuelled speculation over her future by a cryptic message posted on Twitter on Tuesday, in which she said: “Pls tune in to my Facebook page tomorrow at 6pm UK time, where I’ll be sharing something important with you live.”

Ivanovic, who married Manchester United midfielder Bastian Schweinsteiger during the summer, was due to begin the new season at the ASB Classic in Auckland, starting on January 2, and was also on the entry list for the Australian Open.

Sign up to our free newsletters

Get the best updates straight to your inbox:
Please select at least one mailing list.

You can unsubscribe at any time by clicking the link in the footer of our emails. We use Mailchimp as our marketing platform. By subscribing, you acknowledge that your information will be transferred to Mailchimp for processing.