• Born on June 1, 1982 in Liege, Belgium.

• Turned professional in 1999, and captured 41 singles titles, including seven Grand Slams during her career.

• Won her debut WTA Tour event in Antwerp.

• Became first Belgian to reach a singles final at Wimbledon in 2001, where she was beaten by Venus Williams. Went on to become the first Belgian to win a Grand Slam title when she beat Kim Clijsters to win the 2003 French Open.

• Overcame Clijsters to win her second Grand Slam title at the US Open in 2003 and then again in the 2004 Australian Open final.

• Won a gold medal in the 2004 Athens Olympics.

• Won the French Open in 2005 and 2006, only the fifth woman to win back-to-back Roland Garros titles in the professional era.

• Reached the final of all four Grand Slam tournaments in 2006, becoming the first player to achieve such a feat and reach the final of the end-of-season Championships since Steffi Graf in 1993.

• Secured the year-end No. 1 spot on her way to winning her first WTA Championships in Madrid.

• Began 2007 by missing the Australian Open to deal with the breakdown of her four-year marriage to Pierre-Yves Hardenne, but went on to win her third consecutive French Open in May.

• Won Grand Slam title No. 7 with win over Svetlana Kuznetsova for her second US Open trophy.

• Ended season by beating Maria Sharapova in an epic final lasting three hours and 24 minutes to win her second consecutive WTA Championships.

• Began the 2008 season with victories in Sydney and Antwerp but was soundly beaten by Sharapova in the quarter finals of the Australian Open. Failed to advance past the quarter finals of last three tournaments and withdrew from this week’s Italian Open citing fatigue.

• May 14, Still ranked No. 1 in the world, announced retirement with immediate effect at a press conference.