American tennis player Taylor Dent (picture ©tripletrouble) announced his retirement from professional competitions.

Born on April 24, 1981, son of Australian tennis player Phil Dent, Taylor has been one of the last interpreters of serve-and-volley, also having a very fast serve.

Turned pro in 1998, Taylor Dent wins 4 ATP single titles in 2002 and 2003, becoming with his father the first father-son couple to win ATP titles in the open era.

The problems for Taylor Dent start in 2006, when severe back issues force him to stop his activity. The problems are so bad to force him to undergo a back surgery twice in 2006 and 2007. After his second surgery he has to spend a long period in absolute rest and his career is at serious risk.

Only in 2008 Taylor Dent slowly comes back to competitions, playing challenger tournaments too.

In 2009 Dent succedes in being back among world Top 100 but he doesn’t reach results comparable to the ones he obtained before his injury.

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Now Taylor Dent has decided to retire. In the last years he succeded in showing his talent though he was overweight and struggled to withstand his high level opponents playing rythms.

In 2006 Taylor Dent got married to former tennis player Jennifer Hopkins and they had a son at the beginning of this year.

I can only wish Taylor Dent all the luck for his life, the luck he didn’t have during his career as a player!