Magdalena Maleeva retires after 17 seasons 

Magdalena Maleeva retires after 17 seasons

Magdalena Maleeva announced her retirement Thursday from the WTA Tour following her second-round loss at the Zurich Open in Switzerland. Maleeva won 10 singles titles and five doubles crowns during a 17-year career that started when she was 14 years old.

Maleeva turned pro in 1989, and won the Tour's Most Impressive Newcomer Award in 1990. Three years later she reached the fourth round at the Australian Open, French Open and US Open, and was named the Most Improved Player for 1993.

Maleeva's best season was 1995, when she won a career-high three singles titles and finished the year ranked No. 6 in the world, her best year-end finish. The biggest win of Maleeva's career came in 2002 when she beat Venus Williams, Amelie Mauresmo and Lindsay Davenport to win the Kremlin Cup in Moscow. She last won on the tour in 2003 at the DFS Classic in Birmingham, England

Perhaps she is best known for being the youngest of the three Maleeva sisters who played on the tour. At the 1990 French Open, Manuela, Katerina and Magdalena became the first trio of sisters to compete in the main draw of a Grand Slam tournament, and later were the first sister trio to be seeded at a Grand Slam event (1993 Australian Open, French Open and Wimbledon). In '93, they all reached the fourth round at both the French and U.S. opens.

"I don't think any of us appreciated what we accomplished as sisters at the time, but now looking back we can be really proud of ourselves," Magdalena Maleeva said. "It was a unique situation which will probably never be repeated because it was an amazing achievement when you think next year will be the first time in over 26 years a Maleeva will not be in the rankings."