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Citing the fulfilment of her tennis goals and fatigue with life
on the Tour, the world number one walks away with 15 titles to
her name, the last coming at Melbourne Park where she ended
Australia's 44-year wait for a home champion.
"I know how much work it takes to bring the best out of yourself
... I don't have that in me anymore," she said in video posted
on her Instagram account on Wednesday.
"I don't have the physical drive, the emotional want and
everything it takes to challenge yourself at the very top level
any more. I am spent."
It marks Barty's second retirement from the sport, having walked
away from the game as a teenager in late-2014 after becoming
disaffected by the Tour.
She returned in 2016 and rose rapidly up the rankings, earning
global acclaim for her tennis and fans' affection for her
sportsmanship and laid-back demeanour.
Spending 121 weeks as world number one, Barty won the 2019
French Open and Wimbledon in 2021 and appeared well set for more
Grand Slam success to take her place among the game's greats.
However, she never made any secret of her dislike for the
touring life and her battles with homesickness.
She said realising her "one true dream" by winning Wimbledon
last year had changed her perspective.
"Ash Barty the person has so many dreams 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," she said in the video
https://www.instagram.com/tv/
Cbbbr7xBX7N/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link,
interviewed by her close friend and former doubles partner Casey
Dellacqua.
"I'll never, ever stop loving tennis, it's been a massive part
of my life, but I think it's important that I get to enjoy the
next part of my life as Ash Barty the person, not Ash Barty the
athlete."
'WHAT A PLAYER'
Barty suffered depression on the Tour after turning professional
as a teenager, leading her to quit and briefly reinvent herself
as a professional cricketer in her home state of Queensland.
When COVID-19 halted tennis in 2020 she took nearly a year off
to stay home with family rather than rejoin the circuit when it
resumed.
As players battled at the delayed 2020 French Open, Barty was
spotted in the crowd at an Australian Rules football match in
Brisbane, cheering her beloved Richmond Tigers with a cup of
beer in her hand.
Wearing a simple blue sports top and with her hair pulled back
in her trademark bun, Barty wiped away tears during the
interview with Dellacqua.
"I know I've done this before, but in a different feeling," she
said.
"I'm so grateful for tennis, it's given me all of my dreams,
plus more, but I know the time is right now for me to step away
and chase other dreams and to put the racquets down."
She bows out with almost $24 million in career prize money and
as a national hero by beating American Danielle Collins in the
Australian Open in the final in January.
As the second Aboriginal Australian to win a Grand Slam title,
following in the footsteps of the great Evonne Goolagong Cawley,
Barty has also become an idol for her country's Indigenous
population.
Prime Minister Scott Morrison thanked Barty for "inspiring a
generation of young people and particularly a generation of
young Indigenous people" in Australia.
"You are all class, your commitment to excellence in your chosen
field in tennis ... I’m sure anything you turn your hand to you
are going to be a great success," he added.
Barty's bombshell triggered tributes from players and officials.
"Happy for @ashbarty, gutted for tennis," said Briton Andy
Murray, former men's world number one. "What a player."
WTA boss Steve Simon said Barty led by example through her
professionalism and sportsmanship in every match, while Tennis
Australia CEO Craig Tiley described Barty as "an incredible role
model", both on and off the court.
"Enjoy the retirement and this next chapter of your life, we
can't wait to support you in whatever you choose next," Tiley
said in a statement.
Her retirement echoes Justine Henin's decision to quit in 2008
as a 25-year-old world number one with seven Grand Slam titles.
Henin came out of retirement in 2010, inspired by fellow Belgian
Kim Clijsters' comeback.
2005 U.S. Open champion Clijsters retired in 2007 at the age of
23 but returned after a two-year hiatus to claim another three
Grand Slam titles.
Women's tennis will have a new world number one in Poland's Iga
Swiatek.
Australia will hope Barty's second retirement ends up like her
first, broken by another comeback and more Grand Slam
silverware.
(Reporting by Ian Ransom; Additional reporting by Nick Mulvenney
in Sydney and Manasi Pathak in Bengaluru; Editing by Peter
Rutherford)
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