Ash Barty has stunned the tennis world by announcing her immediate retirement from the sport less than two months after winning the Australian Open title.
The 25-year-old hadn’t played on the Tour since becoming the first female player from her country since 1978 to win the Melbourne title. Previously she pulled out of events in North America due to fitness concerns. Barty made her shock announcement during a video interview with former doubles partner Casey Dellacqua which was uploaded onto her Instagram account. During the exchange the world No.1 said she was ‘spent’ and no longer had the ‘physical drive’ to continue playing.
“This is perfect for me. To share it with you, to talk to you about it with my team, my loved ones that I’ll be retiring from tennis. And that’s the first time I’ve actually said it out loud and yeah, it’s hard to say, but I’m so happy and I’m so ready, and I just know at the moment, in my heart, for me as a person, this is right,” said Barty.
Barty exits the sport whilst still at the top of the women’s game. She has continuously held the world No.1 ranking since September 2019 and has won four out of her last six tournaments played, including two Grand Slam tournaments. On the surface there was no indication that she was considering quitting the sport after a strong 2021 season when she was named WTA Player of the Year for the second time in her career. Last year she achieved a win-loss record of 42-8 and won a Tour-leading five titles.
It is not the first time Barty has stepped away from tennis after taking an ‘indefinite break’ towards the end of 2014 before returning again in 2016. However, this time the Australian explains that it is different.
“I know I’ve done this before, but in a very different feeling. And I’m so grateful to everything that tennis has given me. It’s given me all of my dreams possible, but I know that the time is right now for me to step away and chase other dreams. And yeah, and to put the racquets down.” She explained.
Ironically, it was her two most recent triumphs at the Grand Slams which helped shaped her future plans. Last year at Wimbledon she became the first Australian woman to claim the title since her mentor Evonne Goolagong in 1980. Coincidentally, during the tournament she was wearing a special outfit commemorating the 50th anniversary of Goolagong’s first Wimbledon win. Then in January Barty triumphed at her home grand slam for the first time in her career by winning seven straight matches without dropping a single set. Her first major title was won at the 2019 French Open.
“Wimbledon last year changed a lot for me as a person and for me as an athlete when you work so hard your whole life for one goal, and I’ve been able to share that with so many incredible people. But to be able to win Wimbledon which was my dream, my one true dream that I wanted in tennis, that really changed my perspective and 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, wasn’t quite fulfilled,” said Barty.
“Then came the challenges 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. As a person this is what I want. This is I want to I want to chase after some other dreams that I’ve always wanted to do and I’ve always had that really healthy balance, but I’m really really excited.”
Barty, who will turn 26 next month, ends her career with 15 WTA titles and more than 300 wins on the Tour. She has earned a total of $23,829,071 in prize money which is the 14th highest tally in history as of this week.
“I’ll never ever, ever stop loving tennis. It’ll always be a massive part of my life. But now 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.” She concludes.
