NZ tennis star Erin Routliffe’s journey: From Wimbledon breakdown to US Open champion

Twice, she nearly walked away from tennis forever. This year, she became world No 1.

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We’re taking a look back at some of our favourite and most popular Lifestyle stories of 2024 , giving you a chance to catch up on some of the great reading you might have missed this year. In this story from November, Greg Bruce meets Erin Routliffe, who might be the greatest Kiwi tennis player you’ve never heard of. Distraught after losing her first-round doubles match at Wimbledon last year, Erin Routliffe slumped onto a bench at the side of the court, burst into tears and had a “full mental breakdown”.

She wondered what she was doing with her life..