It’s a bang: Ashleigh Barty, world number one in women’s tennis, ends her career at just 25 years old. And that shortly after the young Australian ended her country’s dry spell at the Australian Open. The step, however, comes well-considered and for Barty at the right time.
You should stop when it’s most beautiful – a German proverb is most likely to apply to Ashleigh Barty’s decision to end her tennis career. At the age of 25 and in the best tennis age, the exceptional talent puts the rackets in the corner “to devote to other dreams”, as she said in an emotional post on Instagram.
It was less than two months ago that the tennis player from Ipswich, Australia, brought the Rod Laver Arena in Melbourne to a boil. In a dramatic final after falling 5-1 in the second set, the 25-year-old won the Australian Open, ending a 44-year losing streak. Christine O’Neill was the last Australian to win the title, in 1978. For Barty it was the third triumph at one of the Grand Slam tournaments, perhaps her best, but certainly her last. It was also the birth of the Barty party in the media, which ended after two months. She initially left open what exactly Barty plans for the future. However, she announced a press conference for Thursday, where she wants to express herself.
Ashleigh Barty’s thanks to her mentor
The fact that Barty won three Grand Slam titles in singles is also thanks to the woman who conducted the farewell interview with her on Instagram: Casey Dellacqua. After leaving the US Open in 2014, the then 18-year-old Barty took a break, and the end of her career was just around the corner for the first time. “I’ve always traveled since I was young and it was just too much and too fast for me,” Barty later recalled on the “Cricket.com” portal. Barty switched batting tools and switched from tennis to cricket, a sport she had long been fascinated with. Here, too, the talented all-rounder quickly settled in and played for a team in the professional league “Women’s Big Bash League”.
A year later, Barty found her way back to Australia’s tennis courts through Dellacqua, who herself has now ended her tennis career and works as a presenter. The two had already played successfully in doubles before their break, a joint training session is said to have brought them back to the hunt for the yellow felt ball. “She has done so much for me as a personality and has always been there for me from the start of my career. She has enabled me to thrive and find the balance between personal life and professional life. I just love her “, Barty stated in an interview after the triumph in Melbourne in January. After congratulations from the opponent and the referee, she had previously sought the direct route to Dellacqua and kissed her on the forehead.
Mentor and friend: After her triumph at the Australian Open, Ashleigh Barty thanked Casey Dellacqua with a kiss.
©Sydney Low/ / Picture Alliance
The 25-year-old was never about big money and titles. When she won the WTA final at the end of 2019, this title was gold with six million euros. But she didn’t want to spend the money on herself. “I’m pretty happy with my little house in Australia and have everything I need. I’m probably a boring person because I hardly spend any money on myself,” Barty explained. But the beneficiaries were Lucy and Oscar, the tennis player’s niece and nephew, to whom she promised a new swing in the garden. The 25-year-old always appeared friendly in interviews, with a smile, but above all down-to-earth. “I have so many dreams that I want to chase that aren’t about traveling the world, being away from my family, and being away from home, which is where I always wanted to be,” Barty said in her farewell interview.
The success and trophies mean nothing to her, Barty’s sister Sara wrote in a May 2019 article for Athletes Voice. She played when she was a junior because she loved the sport. “She donated some of her trophies to the tennis club so they could reuse them for junior tournaments,” Sara Barty recalled in the article. Others are locked in a room with their father. Barty left those that can be used as vases to her mother and sisters. And not only her niece and nephew were always on Barty’s mind, but also the rest of the family. “We got gifts from her all the time. Wherever she traveled, Ash always brought gifts.” Biathlete Magdalena Neuner, who also ended her career in 2012 at the age of 25, also showed a similar attitude. The biathlon figurehead could have broken all records, but success never interested her, the athlete explained in her retirement announcement at the time. Both shared the love of their sport, not the pursuit of success.
Competitors bow
The fact that Barty was very popular with her competitors is also shown by their reactions. Her tennis friend Julia Görges congratulated her on an “incredible” career. “I’m incredibly proud of you,” wrote the 33-year-old, who has also resigned. “How you came back after you stopped playing in 2014 is outstanding,” she said. Barty is a “true champion”. Angelique Kerber, also a three-time Grand Slam winner, expressed admiration for the decision. “You leave tennis as a true champion and on your own terms, just following your path as you have always done,” Kerber wrote on Twitter. “Keep chasing your dreams, I know you will,” wrote Kerber, who lost to Barty in straight sets in the Wimbledon semifinals last year. US player Maddison Keys called Barty “a great player and more importantly one of the nicest people on the tour”. Simona Halep wrote that she will miss her friend: “You were different and special.”
Barty also made no secret of the fact that the tennis circus sapped the strength of the world number ones. After the Wimbledon triumph last year, she had the gut feeling that she wanted to end tennis. “But a small part of me wasn’t quite satisfied, and then the Australian Open came. And that was the perfect way for me to honor my incredible journey,” says Barty, who claims to have had a change of perspective in the late autumn of her young career. “My happiness was no longer dependent on the results.” For her, success is knowing that she has always given everything. But now she lacks the drive, physically and emotionally, to continue playing at a top level. “But that’s success for me: I just gave everything for the sport and I’m really fulfilled and happy with it.” You can’t ask for more at the end of your career.
Sources: dpa, Athlete’s Voice, The West Australian, Tennis 365, mirror, Cricket.com