Ashleigh Barty, the world’s first tennis player, ended her career unexpectedly. The 25-year-old Australian woman justified the decision by achieving all the set goals and fatigue from life on the WTA circuit.
Barty announced the end two months after the triumph at the Australian Open, where she won as the first home player in 44 years. She also has Grand Slam titles from Wimbledon 2021 and French Open 2019, winning a total of 15 titles.
“I know how much work it takes to do my best. And I just don’t have it in me anymore,” Barty said in a video on Instagram. “I don’t have it mentally or physically anymore,” she added.
Barty finished tennis for the second time, leaving the WTA circuit for the first time in 2014. Among other things, she also had problems with depression after coming among professionals.
“I’ve done it before, but this is something else,” added Barty, who never hid that a hard life on the WTA circuit wasn’t for her. That is also why, after the outbreak of the pandemic in 2020, she took an almost one-year break, which she spent with her family.
“I had a lot of dreams and goals, but they certainly didn’t include traveling the world and a long separation from my family and home, where I always wanted to be,” Barty said in the video.
“I’ll still love tennis, it’s been a huge part of my life, but I think it’s time to enjoy what Ash Barty likes as a person and not Ash Barty as an athlete,” she added.
–
