Katie O'Brien calls time on career at age of 25

Former British No 1 Katie O'Brien has retired at the age of just 25.

O'Brien, from Hessle in Yorkshire, is ranked 281st in the world but had been as high as 84th last year.

Yesterday, she confirmed to the Lawn Tennis Association that the World Team Tennis event in the USA last month was her final competition. "I know I'm retiring at a relatively early age, but having been completely committed to tennis for a long time I feel ready to explore different avenues of life," she told the LTA website.

"I really enjoyed my time playing in World Team Tennis last month, and I've decided it would be nice to finish on such a positive note. The last time I played a match, I had the honour of sharing the court with Martina Hingis and Serena Williams so I'm stepping down on a real high and will take some fantastic memories with me."

Meanwhile, Jo-Wilfried Tsonga inflicted another bruising defeat on Roger Federer early yesterday to reach the quarter-finals of the Rogers Cup in Montreal. Tsonga, who beat Federer in a thrilling five-set match at Wimbledon this year, came through another last-set decider against the Swiss, to win 7-6 (7/3), 4-6, 6-1 and set up a last-eight clash with Spaniard Nicolas Almagro.

Almagro got the better of Tsonga's countryman Richard Gasquet 7-6 (7/5), 6-3, while Serbia's Novak Djokovic, the world No 1, recorded a 7-5, 6-2 victory over Croatian Marin Cilic for his 50th win of the year.