Former World No 1 tennis star Caroline Wozniacki has ended her 16-year career, bowing out at the Australian Open after losing to Ons Jabeur in the third round in Melbourne.

The 29 year-old, who turned pro in 2005 aged just 15, burst into the Top 10 in 2009 and reached the top spot in 2010. 

Since then she has been World No 1 on two other occasions, totalling 71 weeks throughout her career, the last of these in 2018.

Her glittering career speaks for itself including becoming the only Dane to win a Grand Slam title when she won the Australian Open in 2018, beating Simona Halep in a marathon three sets lasting two hours and 49 minutes.

She has also won at least one tournament every year for 11 straight years and amassed an astonishing total of 30 WTA titles.

It's not just on the court the Dane has made headlines, including her well publicised three-year romance with golfer Rory McIlroy.

The pair made their relationship public in 2011 and on New Year's Day 2014 announced their engagement with a whopping £120,000 ring.

But it wasn't to be for the all-star pairing with McIlroy announcing in May of the same year that they had ended the engagement just days after invitations to their New York wedding were sent out to 300 guests around the world.

"The problem is mine," said the golf star at the time. "The wedding invitations issued at the weekend made me realise that I wasn't ready for all that marriage entails. I wish Caroline all the happiness she deserves and thank her for the great times we've had."

It was evident that things had turned sour when Wozniacki revealed that McIlroy had ended their three-year relationship over the phone and had not been in touch since.

But on Valentine's Day 2017 Wozniacki announced that she and former American basketball player David Lee were engaged. The whopping 8.8 carat ring's worth is estimated at over €1 million, leaving Rory's rock somewhat in the shade.

Wozniacki and Lee married on June 16 2019 in Tuscany with long-term BFF Serena Williams among the bridesmaids and fellow tennis stars Angelique Kerber and Agnieszka Radwanska among the congregation.

The former No 1 announced in December that she would be retiring following the 2020 Australian Open because she planned to focus on her life outside tennis including potentially starting a family as well as continuing her studies at Harvard Business School.

A modelling career could also be on the cards for the tennis star after she sent fans into a frenzy when she posed for a Sports Illustrated Cover in December.

It was an emotional goodbye for the 29-year-old after her third round loss to Jabeur with Serena Williams visibly upset when talking about how much she will be missed.

Top tennis players from the ATP Tour including Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal were among those to congratulate Caroline on her career and wish her luck in her next endeavours.