Former British number one Johanna Konta has announced her retirement from tennis.

The 30-year-old has struggled with a persistent knee problem over the past couple of years and has slipped to 113 in the rankings.

Konta made the announcement on social media with a post headed “Grateful”.

She wrote: “This is the word that I’ve probably used the most during my career and is the word that I feel explains it best in the end.

“My playing career has come to an end, and I am so incredibly grateful for the career that it turned out to be. All the evidence pointed towards me not ‘making’ it in this profession.

“However my luck materialised in the people that came into my life and impacted my existence in ways that transcended tennis.

“I am so incredibly grateful for these people. You know who you are. Through my own resilience and through the guidance of others, I got to live my dreams. I got to become what I wanted and said as a child.

Johanna Konta: British number one out of Wimbledon after member of her team tests positive for COVID

Johanna Konta suffers heart palpitations in first match back after lockdown

Johanna Konta loses first clay-court final at Morocco Open in Rabat

“How incredibly fortunate I count myself to be. How grateful I am.”

Born in Australia to Hungarian parents, Konta moved to Europe to pursue her tennis career as a teenager, settling with her family in Eastbourne and becoming a British citizen in 2012.

A relatively late developer, Konta’s emergence at the top of the game began in 2015, and the following year she reached her first grand slam semi-final at the Australian Open and climbed into the top 10.

Her best season was arguably in 2017, when she became the first British player since Virginia Wade to make the semi-finals at Wimbledon, won the biggest of her four career titles at the Miami Open and peaked at fourth in the rankings.

Konta slipped down the rankings in 2018 but was resurgent the following year, making another grand slam semi-final at the French Open as well as quarter-finals at Wimbledon and the US Open.

Related posts:

Snapchat and TikTok encourage young people to get vaccine, as 1m jabs booked in two-day period ‘James Bond fantasist’ who wanted to kill his family jailed for nine years New national flagship ‘to be funded through the Ministry of Defence’, says Number 10 Dangerous driver who escaped from London court two weeks ago is still on the run Teenage boy found dead in canal as police warn of open water swimming dangers amid heatwave AJ Tracey and Headie One lead Rated Awards nominations Team GB shooter out of Olympics after testing positive for COVID Food shortage warning as ‘pingdemic’ staffing chaos threatens supply chain, retailers warn Boy, 16, in court accused of murdering Afghan refugee on playing field ‘Tom taped up the door’: Room sealed to contain ‘aggressive’ deadly stowaway snake found in Essex in shipping container Enforce ‘Plan B’ COVID restrictions immediately or UK risks ‘stumbling into winter crisis’, PM warned ‘I’m not hitting on your wife’: Prince William and Kate attend Royal Variety Performance