5 months ago: LONDON, ENGLAND - JUNE 21: Taylor Dent of USA in action during his first round match against Juan Ignacio Chela of Argentina on Day One of the Wimbledon Lawn Tennis Championships at the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club on June 21, 2010 in London, England. (Photo by Clive Brunskill/Getty Images)

By Stephanie Kuzydym

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Nov 9, 2010 - A week after the women's ATP lost 29-year-old Russian Elena Dementieva to retirement, stating that she wants to start a family, the men's ATP is losing 29-year-old American Taylor Dent to retirement.

Dent, who has won four titles in his 12 years on the circuit, is known for his serve-and-volley style of play. His most notable match is when he beat then World No. 1 Andy Roddick in the final round in Memphis in 2003.

But as the LA Time states, it's a loss for tennis.

For Dent is taking with him into retirement the kind of game we don't see anymore.

Dent is an unabashed serve-and-volley player, always at the net. In fact, he has always been unwilling to stay at the baseline and pound ground strokes. It wasn't how he was taught, by his father and former pro player Phil Dent, and it wasn't how he wanted to play.

"It wasn't my nature," Dent said. "I love to serve and volley."

Between 2006 and 2007, Dent underwent three back surgeries after serious debilitating back injuries.

The American ranked as high as No. 21, with a 151-140 career record. Ranked 85th at the time of his retirement, Dent was 12-19 in his 2010 campaign.

The husband and father of a 9-month-old son also played for the U.S. Davis Cup and for Team USA in the 2004 Athens Olympics where he won a bronze medal.

Dent's decision came shortly after a second-round knockout from a Challenger in Charlottesville, Va.

"It's the deal we have had since my comeback," Dent said, "that at the end of the year we sit down and have a scheduled talk about whether to go forward or retire. I've been playing for 12 years now and I met a lot of my goals, almost all my goals after coming back from the surgeries and the time seemed perfect.

"I've got a son and a strong desire to be a family man. Pro tennis is a grueling schedule and it gets pretty tough after a while. My body was able to hang in there, a testament to my surgeon, but at the end of the day it's just a lot of little things."