After 12 years as partners, Sara Thygesen and Maiken Fruergaard have played their final international match together. Their journey ended in the second round of the 2024 Denmark Open, where they lost to Japan's Nami Matsuyama and Chiharu Shida 21-14 21-18.
Europe's third-ranked women's doubles pair concludes their career in the city they have long represented at the club level, in front of their home crowd, thus tying a neat bow on their impressive journey together.
Their career began in 2012 when they debuted at the Swedish Masters at the ages of 17 and 21, respectively. Over the past 12 years, they established themselves on the world tour and never dropped out of the rankings. Their highest placement was 14th in the world in 2019, and they finish at 23rd.
While the duo may not have amassed a plethora of international titles, they consistently delivered strong performances, reaching numerous quarterfinals and semifinals.
Notable achievements include winning the Irish Open in 2023, the Swedish Masters in 2016, and the Belgian International in 2015. They also secured a second place at the Indonesia Masters in 2020 and several European Team and Mixed Team Championships with Denmark. Together, they earned four bronze medals at the individual European Championships. Earlier this year they reached the quarterfinals at the 2024 Paris Olympics, this is the result the due descibes as the highlight of their career.
We would like to thank Maiken and Sara for the impressive results they have achieved over the years, as well as for being a fair and highly respected partnership on the world tour.
Fortunately, this isn’t the last we’ll see of the two players. Maiken Fruergaard will continue her international career with 23-year-old Natasja Anthonisen. Sara Thygesen has not yet announced a new partner, so we eagerly await news of her future plans. She has previously expressed that she doesn’t feel ready to end her career just yet.