"It's never an easy decision for any professional athlete to retire. I look forward to the next stage of my life. Tennis has given me so much and I want to continue to stay involved and contribute in some ways," said Ljubicic, born in Banja Luka, Bosnia and Herzegovina, on 19 March 1979.

Ljubicic, currently ranked 40th on the ATP list, will retire from the ATP World Tour after playing professional tennis for 15 years.

He has been ranked as high as No. 3 on the ATP rankings. He was in Croatia's team that won the Davis Cup in 2005. Ljubicic bagged a bronze medal in doubles with Mario Ancic at the 2004 Athens Olympics and has 10 career singles titles, the biggest coming at the BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells in 2010 when he beat Novak Djokovic, Rafael Nadal and Andy Roddick.

Ljubicic has won 429 matches and was defeated 295 times in his career.

Swiss tennis player Roger Federer said that he was saddened by the news about the retirement of Ljubicic whom he described as a good friend.

Federer was quoted on the ATP web site as saying "I have a very good friendship with Ljubicic, and it's been sad seeing him retiring really since I've known about it for quite some time."

"We've talked at length at times about it, but I think it comes at the right time for him and he's in a perfect spot with his family. He's just had a second daughter. He's had a wonderful career," Federer added.