Jodie Burrage says she considered retirement during injury battle
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An emotional Jodie Burrage revealed she considered retirement after battling to recover from more injury setbacks last season. The 25-year-old was at a career-high ranking of 84 when she suffered a wrist injury in February that needed surgery – the fourth operation of her career – and she was just on the point of a return when her ankle ligament ruptured during a training session with Katie Boulter.
That ruled her out of the final three grand slams of the season but it was as she tried to battle her way back up the rankings by playing at lower-tier events that the darkest moments came. She recalled a training session in London, saying: “I was basically crying mid-session saying, ‘I don’t know how much more fight I’ve got’.
“I fought so hard to get back to a position where I could even play the sport, and then I was winning matches, obviously those ITF (International Tennis Federation) events, making semis and stuff, but it’s not where I wanted to be and wasn’t happy with how I was playing.
“I didn’t know how much more fight I had. It takes a lot. But that’s the funny thing about tennis. Literally five days later, start in Slovakia, make final, and then I win the biggest title of my career in Dubai. “It’s very up and down. It was hard. Those six months were really, really hard.”.
I didn't know how much more fight I had. It takes a lot. That success in Dubai in November coupled with two wins at the WTA Tour event in Auckland to start the season have lifted Burrage’s ranking back up to 173, while her protected ranking from before her injury lay-off earned her direct entry into the Australian Open.
