[전국체전] Han Na-rae, former national tennis player, retires: “Last year’s US Open remains in my memory”

Achievements such as winning the 2018 Korea Open doubles and advancing to the major singles finals twice

Han Na-rae received a plaque of appreciation after the National Sports Festival

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(Gimhae = Yonhap News) Reporter Kim Dong-chan = Han Na-rae (Bucheon City Hall), a former national tennis player, ended her active career at the 105th National Sports Festival.

Han Na-rae participated as a representative of Gyeonggi Province in the finals of the women’s general tennis team event at the 105th National Sports Festival held at the Changwon City Tennis Center in Gyeongsangnam-do on the 16th and won the gold medal by defeating the Gangwon representative 2-0.

As a result, Na-rae Han won gold medals in the team event at the Sports Festival for the fifth time in a row from 2018 to this tournament. This is the result excluding 2020 and 2021, when no general games were held due to the novel coronavirus infection (Corona 19).

Born in 1992, Na-rae Han first started playing tennis in 2002 when she was in the third grade of elementary school and played as a player at Seokjeong Girls’ High School, Samsung Securities, Incheon City Hall, and Bucheon City Hall.

The 2022 Korea Open match.

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Han Na-rae, who participated as a national team member at the 2014 Incheon Asian Games, the 2018 Jakarta-Palembang Asian Games, and last year’s Hangzhou Asian Games, rose to the top in the doubles at the 2018 Women’s Professional Tennis (WTA) Tour Korea Open.

He also achieved the feat of advancing to the singles finals of the 2020 Australian Open and last year’s US Open.

Na-rae Han’s advancement to the singles finals of the 2020 Australian Open was the first time a Korean female player reached the singles finals of a major tournament 13 years after Yoon-jung Cho at the 2007 US Open.

The 2018 tour doubles title became the first WTA tour doubles title won by a Korean player in 14 years since the pair of Cho Yoon-jeong and Jeon Mi-ra in 2004.

Han Na-rae holding a retirement photo frame after the sports festival

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Na-rae Han, who has been preparing for retirement by competing only in domestic competitions after getting married this year, said, “I didn’t suddenly retire, so I wasn’t very upset because it was my last game. I feel relieved because I feel like I finished well and had no regrets until the end.” .

Regarding ending his career just one year after reaching the US Open finals, he said, “I had a lot of ranking points to protect after the US Open, but I thought it would not be easy to raise my ranking again after losing points and falling to 400th place.” “I decided that it would be right to just give it a year and be done with it,” he explained.

Na-rae Han’s personal highest world ranking is 149th in singles and 95th in doubles.

He said that he first picked up a racket due to the influence of his father, who loved tennis, and chose “last year’s US Open” as the most memorable match.

Na-rae Han recalled, “I was very nervous during the 2020 Australian Open, which was my first time reaching the finals, and at last year’s US Open, my pitch was good, but I faced a very strong opponent.”

Na-rae Han met last year’s Wimbledon champion Marketa Vondrowsova (Czech Republic) in the first round of last year’s US Open and lost 0-2 (3-6 0-6).

Han Na-rae (left) and Choi Ji-hee winning the 2018 Korea Open doubles championship.

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Han Na-rae, who has not yet decided on her plans after retirement, said, “I received a lot of support from fans while attending international competitions. That’s why I was able to play better and achieve good results, so I really want to express my gratitude to everyone.”

Choi Ji-hee (NH Nonghyup Bank), who teamed up to win the 2018 Korea Open doubles title with Na-rae Han, also ended her active career with this National Sports Festival.

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2024/10/17 08:01 Sent