It’s a small earthquake in the world of tennis and the WTA. At only 25 years old, Ashleigh Barty, world number one, announced, via a video posted last night on her Instagram account, her retirement.
Retreat to the top
Absent in Indian Wells and Miami, many wondered where Ashleigh Barty was. The Aussie responded tonight in a staged video, where she pretends to be interviewed by her former doubles partner Casey Dellaqua. And the least we can say is that his intervention will surprise more than one: “I am so happy and so ready. I just know that in my heart, for me as a person, it’s the right thing to do. I’m retiring from tennis.” With three Grand Slam titles to her credit, Barty seemed destined to monopolize the awards for a few more years.
The rhythm in question?
Once again, the problem of mental and physical exhaustion among tenniswomen seems to arise in the Barty case. Aged 25, and therefore supposedly in top form, the Australian highlights the harshness of the women’s circuit, she who discovered the professional world in 2011 when she was only 15 years old. “I no longer have the physical motivation, the emotional will and everything it takes to surpass myself at the highest level. I’m exhausted. I have nothing more to give physically. “. A hellish pace to which was added the COVID-19 pandemic which was particularly trying for her. Indeed, Australia having imposed strict health restrictions, the winner of Roland-Garros 2019 had to skip the whole of 2020, before resuming in 2021 without being able to return home for six months.
The click at the Australian Open
A decision which, if it seems sudden in the eyes of the general public, seems to have been running around in her head for a long time as she explains it a little later in her video. “I’ve been thinking about it for a long time. There was just a small part of me that wasn’t quite satisfied, that wasn’t quite fulfilled. And then came the challenge of the Australian Open. For me, this is the most perfect way, my perfect way, to celebrate the incredible journey that my tennis career has been. » A final therefore in apotheosis for the one who became in January the first Australian to win the Australian Open for 44 years.
Moved but fulfilled, Asleigh Barty will now be able to give time to ” the person Ash », rather than to the player and devote herself to new projects.
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soria.norman
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