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It came out of the blue on Sunday morning. Gisela Dulko, the 2011 Australian Open doubles champion with Flavia Pennetta, has retired. The explanation on the dulkotennis web site boiled down to this: "The reason why I have decided to retire from tennis is because I now have other priorities on which I want to focus. As a result, I don't have the same desire or ability to make the sacrifices which are necessary to live the life of a tennis professional."

Also, she has suffered many injuries in recent years, which doubtless made it harder for her to stay committed to the sport.

It's amazing to realize that the 2011 Australian Open was her last doubles title. She won fifteen others, including Miami, Stuttgart, Rome, the Canadian Open, Moscow, and the Doha Championships in 2010 with Pennetta. She spent more than a year in the Top Five, peaking at #1 at the end of the season in 2010; she kept the top spot until early April 2011.

In singles, she won Budapest 2007, Forest Hills 2007, Fes 2008, and Acapulco 2011; her ranking peaked at #26 in late 2005.

And for the trivia buffs, Dulko was the last player to defeat Martina Navratilova in singles at a Slam, in the second round of Wimbledon 2004. That, oddly enough, after Dulko had beaten Navratilova at Roland Garros 2004 also.