Ashleigh Barty retires from tennis as world number one at the age of 25: “I gave my all”

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“I’ve been thinking about it for a long time, and I’ve had very important moments in my career. Winning Wimbledon last year changed a lot as a person and as an athlete. When you work so hard for a goal, and Wimbledon was my real goal. I thought about it a lot after Wimbledon, I talked about it to my team, but I felt that something was missing, that I was not completely satisfied. Then came the challenge of the Australian Open, and I think it was the perfect way to celebrate the wonderful journey of my tennis career. “

“There has been a change of perspective in this second part of my career. My happiness no longer depended on results. Success, as I define it, is knowing that you have given everything I could give. I am satisfied, I am happy, I know how much work is needed to get the best out of ourselves. I have said this to my team several times: I don’t have that desire, that push that is necessary to keep on surpassing each other every time. Physically I have nothing more to give, I have given everything to tennis, I am happy, and this is my success. “

“Someone may not understand, and I understand it. But for me, Ash Barty, there are so many dreams that don’t include traveling the world to play tennis, staying away from my family and home. I will never stop loving tennis, it has been a fundamental part of my life and always will be, but now I want to enjoy the next chapter of my life as Ash Barty the person, and not Ash Barty the athlete. “