Nathalie Dechy Retires

French veteran Nathalie Dechy announced her retirement today, saying "au revoir" to tennis in order to get ready to say "bienvenue" to a baby.

The thirty-year old leaves the game ranked #90 in the world, a ranking that had been as high as #11 back in early 2006.

Dechy will be best remembered for memorable close losses against top seeds at majors. At the 2005 Australian Open, Dechy held match point against top seed Lindsay Davenport, before eventually dropping the match in three close sets. And at Wimbledon in 2008, Nathalie Dechy lost a heartbreaking marathon match to top seed Ana Ivanovic straight after an Ivanovic shot bounced in off a net cord to fend off Dechy's match point. Ivanovic went on to win the match 10-8 in the third, getting a few more lucky bounces along the way.

Dechy's pleasant demeanor and lack of big results outside of that Australian Open in 2005 likely means she will bie largely forgotten in the fairly near future. But when she is remembered, she'll be remembered fondly.

Nathalie was on the losing end of the first women's tennis match I ever saw in person, at the 1998 US Open vs. then world #1 Martina Hingis, by the score of 6-4, 6-4. Though clearly facing a superior player, Dechy's fight til the end left an impression on me that I still haven't forgotten more than a decade later.