ASH BARTY MADE no attempt to hide the outpouring of emotion after she whipped a forehand past Danielle Collins to clinch the Australian Open title in January. At the time, her gargantuan roar and the tears that streamed down her cheeks appeared to be the byproduct of finally having the weight of an entire nation starved of Grand Slam success lifted off her shoulders.
Ash Barty left her fans shocked on Wednesday morning as she announced her retirement from the sport at the age of 25. Soon after her announcement, the three-time grand slam winner was lauded as one “great champions” of tennis.
Barty, who has not played since her Australian Open triumph earlier this year, retires as the world number one. Her decision saw overwhelming reactions on social media, with several tennis stars sending heartfelt messages on Twitter.
Wednesday’s bombshell was not the first time Barty has called time on her tennis career – she did likewise after the US Open in 2014, saying the rigours of the professional tour meant she had missed out on the kind of life a normal teenager enjoys.
So Barty went and did what any normal teenager would do – play professional cricket. But after just one impressive season with the Brisbane Heat in the WBBL, Barty decided to return to tennis in 2016, even though at the time she wasn’t sure if her decision would pay off.
Barty stunned the sports world Wednesday when she took to social media and announced via an emotional video she would be retiring from tennis, effective immediately.
"I don't have the physical drive, the emotional want and everything it takes to challenge yourself at the very top of the level any more. I am spent," Barty revealed. "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."
Ash Barty poses with the Daphne Akhurst Memorial Cup as the 2022 Australian Open winner. Scott Barbour/Tennis Australia via Getty Images
It's truly an unprecedented move.
Barty, 25, is the current world No. 1 and has held that ranking for 114 consecutive weeks -- the fourth-longest streak in WTA history. She is the reigning champion of both Wimbledon and the Australian Open, and has won more titles since the beginning of 2017 than any other player on the women's tour.
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The only comparable tennis retirement would be Belgian star Justine Henin, who also called time on her career while holding the No. 1 ranking. But even when Henin announced her retirement in 2008, it wasn't off the back of a major triumph. The last time we saw Barty on the court, she was literally being presented the Daphne Akhurst Memorial Cup by mentor and friend Evonne Goolagong Cawley.
Fans would be mistaken for thinking this is the second tennis retirement of Barty's career. Instead, her two-year hiatus between 2015 and 2016 -- when she played professional cricket in Brisbane -- was always intended to be a step away from the sport, as opposed to a complete retirement.
It was a break that worked wonders. Barty returned to the court refreshed, reenergized and in a far better headspace in 2017. Just 24 months later she was the French Open champion, and victory at the WTA Finals followed later that year, which saw her end the season as the world's top-ranked player.
"I needed time to step away, to live a normal life. I think I needed time to grow as a person, to mature," Barty said after winning at Roland Garros. "This tennis life certainly isn't normal."
After falling in the semifinals of the 2020 Australian Open, just as COVID-19 began spreading rapidly around the globe, Barty opted to remain in Australia and skip the rest of the season. She would return in 2021, winning Wimbledon in July before adding her home title of the Australian Open seven months later.
Ash Barty celebrates what would be one of many tennis trophies. .
Barty's win in Melbourne earlier this year put her in rare company. Of active players, she joined Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal, Novak Djokovic and Serena Williams as players to have won major singles titles on all three surfaces.
"I feel very humble to be in such a select group," Barty said upon learning what she had achieved. "To be honest, I don't really feel like I belong with those champions of our sport."
Barty's rise up the tennis rankings came when Australia needed it most. The men's side had been a revolving door of drama and untapped potential for the better part of a decade, and although Sam Stosur triumphed at the US Open in 2011, her failure to go deep at Melbourne Park was a constant frustration among tennis faithful.
But as successful as she would become, in Australia, Barty was admired more for her laidback, carefree attitude. She was everything Australians love about Australians: genuine, honest, friendly and, maybe most significantly, humble. Globally she was widely admired by her contemporaries, and one of the most popular players on tour. A controversy-free tennis player. In many ways she was the perfect athlete.
