- The tennis superstar and world No. 1 Ash Barty announced that she is retiring from professional tennis.
- On Instagram, the three-time Grand Slam champion stated: “I have nothing more to give.”
- Barty is just 25 and still plays top-tier Tennis, but insists “this is right” for her.
No. 1 in world tennis. 1 Ash Barty announced her retirement at 25 from professional tennis.
The three-time Grand Slam champion and the sport’s top-ranked star for 112 consecutive weeks announced her shocking decision in a six-minute Instagram interview with player-turned-commentator Casey Dellacqua.
Barty insists that she is certain that, despite having played at the top levels of tennis for two months, that she will continue to do so. “this is right.”
AP Photo/Tertius Pickard
“My happiness wasn’t dependent on the results,”Barty stated this in the video. “Success for me is knowing that I’ve given absolutely everything I can. I’m fulfilled, I’m happy, and I know how much work it takes to bring the best out of yourself. And I’ve said it to my team multiple times — I just don’t have that in me anymore.”
The Australian star noted that her perspective began to shift after she won Wimbledon in 2021, besting Karolína Plíšková in three sets to win her the second singles Grand Slam of her career. Barty called winning the London-based tournament — widely seen as the most prestigious event in tennis — “the one true dream that I wanted in tennis.”
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She described it as “a “gut feeling”She was ready to let her racket go, but felt simultaneously that “there was just a little part of me that wasn’t quite satisfied, wasn’t quite fulfilled.”
“And then came the challenge of the Australian Open,”She added.
Six months after her Wimbledon win, Barty won the Grand Slam of her home country in January. She was able to win the Daphne Akhurst Memory Cup on her own turf. She was willing to do it.
“That, for me, just feels like the perfect way — my perfect way — to celebrate what an amazing journey my tennis career has been,”Barty said.
AP Photo/Simon Baker
Barty admits at the end of the clip that “it’s scary”she announced her retirement at such an early age, but reiterated that “it’s right.”
Now that her tennis career is over, she’s ready “to chase after some other dreams.”
You can see the entire video below in which Barty announces that she is retiring.