Tennis World No. 1 Ash Barty Makes Shocking Retirement Announcement
Ash Barty announced her retirement from tennis at the age of 25 on Wednesday, less than two months after winning the Australian Open.
The Australian, the world’s No. 1 women’s player, shared the news in an interview with her friend, retired tennis player Casey Dellacqua, that was posted on Instagram.
“Today is difficult and filled with emotion for me as I announce my retirement from tennis,” Barty wrote in the post.
“I am so thankful for everything this sport has given me and leave feeling proud and fulfilled. Thank you to everyone who has supported me along the way, I’ll always be grateful for the lifelong memories that we created together.”
She said she had been thinking about retiring for a long time but had a “gut feeling” after her win last year at Wimbledon that she wasn’t quite fulfilled.
“There was just a little part of me that wasn’t quite satisfied, wasn’t quite fulfilled,” she said. “And then came the challenge of the Australian Open, and I think that for me just feels like the perfect way, my perfect way to celebrate what an amazing journey my tennis career has been.”
“As a person, this is what I want,” she added. “I want to chase after some other dreams that I’ve always wanted to do and always have that really healthy balance, but I’m really really excited.”
Barty’s win at the Australian Open in January ended a 44-year drought for Australian women at the grand slam, according to ESPN. She also held titles from Wimbledon in 2021 and the French Open in 2019.
Earlier this month, she announced she was withdrawing from the BNP Paribas Open at Indian Wells, California, and the Miami Open. She said her body had not recovered from the Australian Open and she’d been unable to adequately prepare for those competitions.
Barty said she would give more details about her retirement in a press conference Thursday.
This article originally appeared on HuffPost and has been updated.
