World No 1 Ashleigh Barty has retired from tennis after winning the Australian Open earlier this year.
The 25-year-old is a three-time Grand Slam champion after winning the French Open in 2019, Wimbledon last year and the Happy Slam at the beginning of the year.
Barty ended her season early last year and spent most of her time in her home country of Australia in 2020 due to Covid and to focus on training, but now she’s given up the game for good.
“The time is right now for me to step away and chase other dreams and to put the racquets down, I wasn’t quite sure of how I was going to do this, it’s hard to say, I am so happy and I’m so ready, I just know at the moment in my heart for me as a person this is right,” the Queenland-born player revealed in a video on social media with her friend and former doubles partner Casey Dellacqua.
“I kind of wasn’t sure how I was going to do this, but I think so many times in my life both my professional and personal, you’ve been there for me, I just couldn’t think there’s no right way, there’s no wrong way, it’s just my way.
“This is perfect for me to share it with you, to talk to you about it with my team, my loved ones, that I will be retiring from tennis - that’s the first time I’ve actually said it out loud, 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.”
This isn’t the first time Barty has taken some time away from tennis, back in 2014 she left the sport to become a professional cricketer in the Women’s Big Bash League playing for Brisbane.
But this is something she addressed in her farewell video, and it doesn’t look like this is going to be a similar situation.
“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 plus more, but I know that the time is right now for me to step away and chase other dreams and to put the racquets down,” Barty explained.
“It’s something that I’ve been thinking about for a long time, I’ve had a lot of incredible moments in my career that have been pivotal moments, Wimbledon last year changed a lot for me as a person and 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, the one true dream that I wanted in tennis, that really changed my perspective – I just has that gut feeling after Wimbledon and I’d spoken to my team quite a lot about it, there was just this little part of me that wasn’t quote satisfied, wasn’t quite fulfilled.
Words by Lucy Roberts for Female First, who you can follow on Twitter, @Lucy_Roberts_72.
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