"I'm absolutely done" - Ashleigh Barty announces her retirement from the tennis pro
Ashleigh Barty took the tennis world by surprise by retiring - at just 25 and as world No. 1. But your explanations make sense, and a little hint even more so.
by Florian Goosmann
last edit: Mar 23, 2022, 10:16 am
It was shocking news early in the European morning for fans of cultivated tennis. With Ash Barty resigning after this fantastic Australian Open, after preparing (and looking forward to!) watching her play tennis for a long time to come... No, a tennis world without Ashleigh Barty is a worse one, no question.
Because the 25-year-old did the tour better than few others: Barty played what is probably the most beautiful tennis ever, with the clever slice, the great overview - in contrast to many colleagues who mostly follow the motto "Only a fast ball is a good ball”.
And humanly: Barty is a good one anyway. Actually too normal to be a tennis pro.
Perhaps it was precisely this quality that promoted her early career end. Yes, Barty had already resigned, in 2014 she had taken a long break after the US Open - return uncertain. She had previously won the junior women's tournament in Wimbledon in 2011 when she was only 15, the pressure afterwards was too great and Barty slipped into depression. She finally came back in 2016 and has been dominating the tennis world since 2019. Her happiness, Barty now said, was no longer dependent on results in the second phase of her career.
Wimbledon last year changed so much for her as a person, Barty explained, winning there was the big dream. And the Australian Open this year is the encore. Now she shines through physically and mentally. "I just don't have it in me anymore. I no longer have the physical pull, the emotional one. Everything it takes to tackle the challenges at the top level. I'm absolutely exhausted. ”But that is exactly a success. "I gave everything to the wonderful sport of tennis."
The tennis tour - an eternal traveling circus
A point that Barty addressed indirectly, and which may have brought about an early end to his career, also relates to traveling - it is quite possible that this very aspect is partly responsible for the great exhaustion.
Tennis pros are always travellers, Australians in particular can hardly go home for a few days and then on again, as European or American pros might be able to do. In Europe and the USA tournaments take place again and again throughout the year, in Australia almost only in January. Barty was away from home from spring to late summer last year. It's hell for a family man like her. Even Nick Kyrgios, as complex as he is, finds it difficult to be away from home, he is a family man and a lover of his homeland.
Her future goals, Barty said accordingly, don't necessarily have to do with traveling the world and being away from family - away from home. Because that's where it's "where I always wanted to be, where I grew up."
One can assume that Barty made the right decision for himself – as bitter as it is for tennis fans. "Having known you for so long, I know that you always make decisions that are right for you," said her friend Casey Dellacqua at the end, whom Barty confided in for the resignation interview.
And she summed up the common wish for Ash Barty: "Enjoy your retirement."