When a 21-year-old Aliona Bolsova reaced the French Open fourth round, she believed it was the special of a journey. But seven years later, she decided to call it a day on what she called a ‘satisfying career.’ The Spaniard recently opened up a few months after her retirement about how unforgiving the sport could get, especially when the matches don’t go your way.

She recently appeared in an interview hosted by Spanish tennis journalist Fernando Murciego, where the Spanish WTA star opened up about her mental struggles and how losing streaks affected her.

“On the weeks when things went badly for me, I felt ashamed to go back home; I’d shut myself in my room because I couldn’t face my family,” confessed Bolsova in the Eurosport interview, while talking about her need for validation from others about her performance.

The pivotal moment came at the 2019 French Open, where Bolsova reached the fourth round in her first Major main draw. She put up a splendid performance on the Parisian clay, winning against the likes of Vera Zvonareva, Sorana Cirstea, and Ekaterina Alexandrova, before losing to Amanda Anisimova in the fourth round.

It was an incredible start to her career after turning pro in 2018. Bolsova never shied away from expressing herself on the court. In an exclusive interview with WTA, “If everyone is wearing the same dresses and skirts, same braid and same visor, it’s so boring,” she said with a chuckle.

This early success at a Grand Slam at just 21 led Bolsova to develop a must-win attitude, as she was burdened by internal and external expectations. Born to Olga Bolșova and Vadim Zadoinov, two Olympic athletes, Bolsova picked up racquet at three.

In her final tournament, Bolsova still measured herself against that 2019 Paris run, saying one week of success there had defined her entire career.

That 2019 breakthrough haunted her final months: she still felt pressure to maintain the standard she’d set on clay. She reached one doubles final on the Challenger Tour and two on the ITF Tour this year before retiring, and even won the doubles title at the ITF event in Sabadella, partnering with Angela Fita Boluda.

In her last event at a Challenger event in Catalonia, she beat the second seed and a high-quality player in Peyton Stearns in the first round, before losing out to Marina Bassols Ribera in the second round. What stood out was that Ribera was a childhood friend of Bolsova, and the Spanish pair enjoyed their time on court.

Bolsova candidly admitted she was satisfied with her achievements and ready for a new life as she chose to retire in April. The Spaniard had an interesting hobby of visiting queer bookstores around the world and expressed her desire to write a book exploring the dynamics of relationships between coaches and players.

Retirements are extremely personal, as players say goodbye to a sport that was a big part of their existence. At the recently concluded French Open, we saw the likes of Gael Monfils and Stan Wawrinka celebrate their careers in their last season. Monfils had a whole show dedicated to him by the French Open, as they gave him a fitting farewell tribute.

Bolsova did not get huge success on the main WTA Tour, but the Spaniard was an excellent clay-court player, as most of her achievements came on the dirt.

Aliona Bolsova Had Her Best Career Moments on Clay

Bolsova did not improve her singles record from the fourth-round run at the 2019 French Open, which remains her best singles result on the WTA Tour. That is not the only time that the Spaniard had her best career moment on clay. The only WTA doubles final for Bolsova also came on clay, as she reached the final of the 2021 Budapest Grand Prix along with Tamara Korpatsch, but the duo lost to the team of Mihaela Buzarnescu and Fanny Stollar.

Bolsova did not have any singles titles on the Challenger Tour, but had five doubles titles, all on clay. Even in 2026, she had a runner-up finish at a Challenger event in France alongside Irene Burrillo. Bolsova had her greatest success on the ITF Tour, where she won 9 singles and 16 doubles titles. The clay dominance was visible here as well, as she won 8 of her 9 singles titles and 13 of her 16 doubles titles on the red dirt while having four hard-court titles in singles and doubles combined.

Bolsova specialized in topspin shots and was quick to cover the net, qualities that made her a formidable doubles player, especially on clay courts. She took pride in representing the country as well, being part of the Spanish contingent at the Billie Jean King Cup, where she had a 5-3 win-loss record. She might not have been a household name worldwide, but she was a gritty player who was content with her 8-year career on the Tour.