‘Spent’ world No 1 Barty bows out on top

Ash Barty dropped a bombshell on the tennis world on Wednesday. The 25-year-old announced her retirement at the peak of her game and just two months after claiming a third Grand Slam title at the Australian Open.

Citing the fulfilment of her tennis goals and fatigue with life on the Tour, the world No 1 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 any more,” 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.”

This is Barty’s second retirement from the sport. She walked away from the game as a teenager in late 2014 after becoming disaffected by the Tour.

Barty 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 No 1, 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. 

But she never made a secret of her dislike of the touring life and her homesickness. She said that realising her “one true dream” by winning Wimbledon last year changed her perspective. 

Many dreams

“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 interviewed by close friend and former doubles partner Casey Dellacqua.

“I’ll never ... stop loving tennis, it’s been a huge 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.”

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.

National hero

“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 nearly $24m 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 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 said.

Barty’s bombshell triggered tributes from players and officials.

“Happy for @ashbarty, gutted for tennis,” said Briton Andy Murray, former men’s world No 1. “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”, 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 No 1 with seven Grand Slam titles. Henin came out of retirement in 2010, inspired by fellow Belgian Kim Clijsters’s comeback.

The 2005 US Open champion, Clijsters retired in 2007 at the age of 23 but returned after a two-year hiatus to claim three more Grand Slam titles.

Women’s tennis will have a new world No 1 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.

Reuters