"You were the mirror where I looked at myself": Paula Badosa, Carlos Alcaraz among others react to Garbine Muguruza retirement

Garbine Muguruza called time on her illustrious career on Saturday 20 April with the former World No.1 and two-time Grand Slam champion deciding to continue her hiatus from tennis permanently. She had a year of inactivity prior to this point after last being seen losing to Linda Noskova at the turn of the 2023 season in Lyon.

Muguruza prior to that had a horrific end to her career form wise barely able to win a game and this came after she returned to the elite of the sport winning the WTA Finals and finished in the year end top three. But this all came crashing down in the months after. She decided to take a break, but quickly realised that she had no desire to return to the sport in the months that followed. Taking up Zumba instructing, seeing friends and family and getting engaged took her from tennis. It was a move that she continued until this point.

But the mark that she left on tennis has been felt by fellow pros who reacted to her retirement. Among those included two of the players who took her mantle as the top Spanish stars aside from Rafael Nadal in Paula Badosa and Carlos Alcaraz. The former in particular has spoken in depth previously about how much Muguruza means to her and this was evident again. Elina Svitolina, Simona Halep and Ons Jabeur all who've had their duels with her over the years also reacted.

"You were the mirror where I looked at myself since I was little. Thank you Garbi for giving so much to Spanish tennis. It was a pleasure to share these years with you. Happy life, you deserve it," Badosa wrote on X (formerly Twitter).

"Congratulations on your great career! Enjoy everything that comes now," Alcaraz wrote. "Congrats on an amazing career," Jabeur wrote on Instagram. "Congrats!!! All the very best for next chapter," Svitolina commented. "Wishing you all the best and congratulations for your beautiful career," Halep wrote on Instagram.