Slovenia's Kaja Juvan announces tennis hiatus to heal after father's demise

Kaja Juvan is taking a hiatus from tennis after a vulnerable admission regarding her father’s death.

The 22-year-old lost her father to cancer in December 2022. In a recent heartfelt social media post, Kaja Juvan revealed that losing a parent has had an impact on her life and tennis career.

“I lost my dad to cancer in December. It’s been a really challenging time since then, as losing such a close person to me has been the hardest thing in my life,” she wrote in an Instagram post.

The former World No. 58 admitted that she hasn’t healed from the trauma and has been having trouble living a basic, everyday life.

“The grieving process has been really hard for me. I feel tired and overwhelmed on most days from just even normal functioning, which makes training and competing sometimes feel really difficult,” she said. “Some days I feel very motivated and some just really stressed out and sad.”

Kaja Juvan, who has registered eight wins against seven losses so far this season, declared that she will be opting out of upcoming tennis tournaments, owing to her emotional suffering. She last contested the semifinals of the WTA 125 Challenger series in San Luis Pototsi on April 1.

“I decided to slow down with playing normal tournaments for just a few weeks (or whatever will feel right) and I will come back when I am ready to do that. I want to take it day by day and week by week to see how I feel. The pain and the sadness are still very much there,” she stated.

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"I got to tell my dad how much I loved him at the end" – Slovenian tennis player Kaja Juvan

Kaja Juvan at the 2022 Adelaide International 1

Kaja Juvan has had some noteworthy success in her young career and has registered wins over the likes of World No. 2 Aryna Sabalenka as well as former World No. 1s Karolina Pliskova and Angelique Kerber.

The 22-year-old Slovenian, who reached a career-high ranking of World No. 58 in 2022, has seven ITF titles to her name as well as a WTA runner-up trophy from her 2022 Internationaux de Strasbourg appearance. Through it all, her father was one of her biggest supporters.

“My dad loved tennis and watching me play a lot and he really wanted me to continue playing normally even after he was gone,” she said. “I am grateful for my dad and everything he has taught me in all the years that I got to spend with him. I got to tell my dad how much I loved him at the end.”

Despite her father’s wishes for her to carry on with her tennis journey seamlessly, Kaja Juvan has decided to prioritize her mental health.

“Tennis is one of my favorite things to do and I love that it’s my job and I believe that I can be a really great tennis player. But the first priority is and has always been that I want to enjoy the game and the fight and most importantly to be okay with myself as a person. I know it’s what my dad always wanted for me,” she said.