British No.1 Lucy Shuker announces retirement from wheelchair tennis at the end of the season
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British No.1 Lucy Shuker has announced that she will be retiring from professional women’s wheelchair tennis at the end of the 2026 season.
The 46-year-old shared the news following her final campaign at Wimbledon, where she reached the semi-finals of the wheelchair women’s doubles with Kgothatso Montjane.
Shuker is a five-time Wimbledon doubles finalist, four-time Australian Open doubles finalist, a silver medallist and two-time bronze medallist at the Paralympic Games, and has won seven World Team Cup medals for Great Britain (three silver and four bronze).
Speaking after The Championships this year, the British star said: “It hasn’t been easy. It’s been a long process coming to the decision that this is going to be my last Wimbledon and last year on tour.
“I feel like I’ve been putting in some good performances so far this year; I just wanted to enjoy everything that I was choosing to do.
“There’s lots of reasons why I’ve come to this decision, but hopefully it’s not the end for me, I’ll still be around in a different capacity. There’s stuff that I want to do and I want to give back, just not in a competitive playing capacity.”
The Briton has reached a career-high of world No.3 in doubles and No.5 in singles, with multiple highlights to choose from during her 24-year career. Shuker also won the equivalent of what are now WC 500 singles titles at the 2010 Belgian Open and the 2018 Seoul Korea Open, while she won the WC 1000 (formerly ITF Super Series) US Open USTA Wheelchair Championships in 2026.
Her biggest doubles title came at the 2016 Wheelchair Tennis Masters alongside legendary Dutch star Diede De Groot, and she has won eight WC 1000 doubles titles, the highest level of event outside of the Grand Slams.
In 2023, Shuker was awarded the British Empire Medal for services to sport.
At the 2024 Paris Paralympic Games, Shuker was also given the honour of being a flagbearer for the ParalympicsGB team.
“A lot of us will reflect on our careers and look at the trophies and titles we won,” she said. “I haven’t won a Grand Slam or a gold medal, but there are still medals that I have achieved.
“Having been on the tour for 24 years, the 21-year-old who broke her back, having a career that’s lasted that long – I have to be proud of that.
“I love tennis and what it’s given to me and hopefully by inspiring others to start the sport they will embrace and enjoy it as well.”
Shuker will continue competing until the end of this season and still has several ambitions in mind before she hangs up the racket on her professional career, not least a significant trophy milestone.
“I’m on 98 doubles titles, I’d love to get to 100, I think that would be pretty epic. I’m off to Hamburg in a few weeks, there’s an integrated even there for the first time and I want to support that.
“We’ve got World Team Cup – supporting the British team is always an honour. It’s out in Orlando, and the first time it’s been out there.
“If I qualify for other tournaments, I’m still looking to do it. I’m fit, healthy and still loving tennis. I feel like I can be competitive.”
As for what’s next, it’s safe to say that Shuker won’t be straying too far from the sport she loves.
While she has no definitive plans as yet, the British No.1 wants to continue to help grow the game and most of all, get more girls involved playing the sport.
“I’ve been having conversations, seeing what might open up,” she added. “I’ve been working with the Youth Sports Trust, delivering in schools and really enjoying that. Seeing how an athlete can impact kids at school is really good.
“Hopefully there’s capacity to help get more girls into the sport. That’s one thing I’ve talked about a lot this year. Talking with some other players, seeing what we can do, how can we create a safe and exciting space that girls want to come and try wheelchair tennis. I want to give back to the sport.
“Thank you to tennis and what it’s given me. Thank you to my family, they’ve been excellent right from the day I had my accident to celebrating my last win on Court 14. Thank you to my partner, she’s been incredible. Thank you to the LTA and Luke (Mulvihill) this year who has brought in a lot of new energy.”
