World No.1 Ash Barty has retired from tennis at the age of 25.
The three-time grand slam champion made the bombshell news public on Wednesday via an interview with close friend and former doubles partner Casey Dellacqua.
Watch an emotional Ash Barty announce her retirement in the video above
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“I wasn’t quite sure how I was going to do this but I think so many times in my life - both personal and professional - you’ve been there for me,” Barty said.
“And I just couldn’t think - there’s no right way, there’s no wrong way. There’s just my way. This is perfect for me to share it with you, to talk to you about it, with my team, my loved ones, that’ll I’ll be retiring from tennis.
“This is the first time I’ve actually said it out loud. It’s hard to say but yeah, I’m so happy and I’m so ready. I just know at the moment, in my heart, for me as a person, this is right.
“I know I’ve done this before but in a very different feeling. I’m so grateful to everything that tennis has given me. It’s given me all of my dreams plus more.
“But I know that the time is right now for me to step away and chase other dreams, and to put the racquets down.”
Barty became engaged to partner Garry Kissick late last year and is currently planning their wedding, having also moved into a new home this year.
But the tennis superstar says it was winning Wimbledon in 2021 and the Australian Open just two months ago that set off thoughts about retiring from the sport.
Winning on the famed grass courts was a childhood dream, while victory at her home grand slam this year will go down as her crowning achievement.
Fresh off becoming engaged to Kissick and with the weight of the country on her shoulders, Barty steamrolled through the tournament to become the first local winner in 44 years.
That feat also served to solidify her intentions.
“It’s something I’ve been thinking about for a long time. I’ve had a lot of incredible moments in my career that have been pivotal moments,” she said.
“Wimbledon changed a lot for me as a person and for me as an athlete. When you work so hard for your life for one goal. I’ve been able to share that with so many incredible people.
“But to be able to win Wimbledon, which was my dream, the one true dream I wanted in tennis, that really changed my perspective. I just had that gut feeling after Wimbledon and had spoken to my team quite a lot about it.
“There was just a little part of me that wasn’t quite satisfied. And then came the challenge of the Australian Open and I think that for me just feels like the most perfect way, my perfect way, to celebrate what an amazing journey my tennis career has been.”
Barty reveals key reason: ‘I don’t have that in me any more’
A prodigious junior who won the Wimbledon girls’ title in 2011, a teenage Barty famously took a break from the sport in 2014 and went on to play Big Bash cricket.
She returned to tennis in 2016 and quickly made her way back up the world rankings, winning a doubles grand slam title in 2018 before her breakthrough singles major at the 2019 French Open.
The biggest prize in tennis followed later that year when she took home more than $8 million for winning the WTA Finals.
Barty then took the entirety of the rebooted 2020 season off during COVID-19 and returned to winning ways in 2021, highlighted by becoming the first Australian woman to win the Wimbledon singles title since her idol Evonne Goolagong Cawley in 1980.
Her decision to retire so young - and after winning a major in her final tournament - is the biggest such bombshell since Bjorn Borg won 11 grand slam titles before calling it quits at the age of 26..
Seven-time grand slam champion Justine Henin retired at the same age as Barty while world No.1 in 2008, though she would make a full-time comeback and reach the Australian Open final less than two years later.
Barty admits she is “absolutely spent” physically and emotionally, but says a “perspective shift” since returning to tennis was crucial to feeling fulfilled enough to retire.
“My happiness wasn’t dependent on the results. Success for me is knowing that I’ve given absolutely everything that I can. I’m fulfilled, I’m happy,” the Australian said.
“I know how much work it takes to bring the best out of yourself. I’ve said to my team multiple times - I don’t have that in me any more.
“I don’t have the physical drive, the emotional want and kind of everything it takes to challenge yourself at the very top level any more. I just know that I’m absolutely spent.
“I had nothing more to give and that, for me, is success. I’ve given absolutely everything I can to this beautiful sport of tennis. I’m really happy with that. For me that is my success.”
Barty, who often championed her coach Craig Tyzzer’s influence on her game and life, earned nearly $32 million in tournament prize money and many more millions in endorsements.
Barty has never shied away from her home-body personality but said she accepts the decision may not sit well with everyone.
Guaranteed to be among the favourites in any tournament she entered for the foreseeable future, she is eschewing the chance to win tens of millions more to live her own life in Brisbane again.
“I know that people may not understand it, and that’s OK. I’m OK with that,” she said.
“I know that for me that Ash Barty the person has so many dreams that she wants to chase after that don’t necessarily involve travelling the world, being away from my family, being away from my home, which is where I’ve always wanted to be.
“I’ll never, ever, ever stop loving tennis. It’ll always be a massive part of my life but I think it’s important that I get to enjoy the next phase of my life as Ash Barty the person, not Ash Barty the athlete.”
Barty could conceivably turn to one of her other sporting loves - golf, cricket or even AFLW.
But those parting words hint at much bigger things to come for one of the greatest athletes Australia has ever seen.
Ash Barty’s career achievements
- World No.1 for 121 weeks (active streak: 114 weeks)
- Three-time grand slam singles champion (2019 French Open, 2021 Wimbledon, 2022 Australian Open)
- One-time grand slam doubles champion (2018 US Open with CoCo Vandeweghe), five-time runner-up
- 2019 WTA Finals champion
- Tokyo Olympics mixed doubles bronze medallist
- 2011 Wimbledon junior girls champion
https://news.google.com/__i/rss/rd/articles/CBMiZmh0dHBzOi8vN25ld3MuY29tLmF1L3Nwb3J0L3Rlbm5pcy93b3JsZC1ubzEtYXNoLWJhcnR5LWFubm91bmNlcy1zaG9jay1yZXRpcmVtZW50LWZyb20tdGVubmlzLWMtNjE3MjY3NtIBAA?oc=5
2022-03-26 18:50:57Z
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