Ash Barty retirement: The world No 1’s decision to retire shocked the world, but not those close to her

Family has always been her number one priority, not her position at the top of the rankings, nor the fame and fortune that came with her staggering accomplishments.

Last July, the 25-year-old achieved her lifelong dream of lifting the Wimbledon crown, before crowning the achievement with a stunning Australian Open success in January.

Having long contemplated what she wanted from life, the Queenslander returned to what makes her happiest, namely her family and friends and the chance to live a normal life.

The three-time grand slam champion made it clear in a column for CodeSports last month, during her first visit to Uluru, that her driving ambition in tennis from now on was for her nation.

She had not touched a racquet in the weeks after her triumph at Melbourne Park, instead taking the time to move into her dream home with fiance Garry Kissick in Brisbane.

Barty, who retired for a period as a teenager when struggling with the demands of travelling, has always been a homebody. The only thing she loved more than cuddling up with her dogs was spending time coaching her niece Lucy and her friends on a court in Brisbane.

Family comes first.

Always.

The sole aim last month was to return to the court in Brisbane next month to represent Australia in a Billie Jean King Cup tie against Slovenia. The pain from a loss to France in the Fed Cup Final, as the competition was then known, in Perth in 2019 lingered and it was something Barty had hoped to rectify.

She is proud of the fact Australia is again the number one ranked nation in women’s tennis and was hopeful of securing the country’s first team success since 1974 later this year.

Then Russia invaded Ukraine.

As a result of the conflict, the International Tennis Federation has removed the Russian and Belarusian sides from team competitions. As a semi-finalist in the Czech Republic last year, Australia was elevated through to the finals as an automatic qualifier.

There would be no on-court farewell.

Aware her main reason for returning was scorched in the short-term, it made it easier to make public on Wednesday a decision which has shocked Australians and the tennis world.

As she put it, there is no right way or wrong way, but it is her way.

And the timing felt right. Spending so long away from home in 2021, which included her brilliant win at Wimbledon, another success in the Miami Open and a triumph in Stuttgart on clay was difficult.

As testing as the pandemic was for most Australians, Barty had endured a relatively regular 2020 when staying at home in Queensland and loved the experience of living normally.

Those beers at the footy when celebrating Richmond wins at the Gabba, which included the opportunity to present the AFL premiership cup to her beloved Tigers? As a member of her team said earlier this morning, those types of experiences are what she has always treasured more so than the day-to-day life of hotel rooms from one city to the next.

Because of her natural talent, from her stunning backhand to her phenomenal forehand and incredible serve, Barty can make tennis look easy.

She possesses a beautifully-balanced game. And it has been a class above the very best of the rest for much of the past three years.

During the Australian Open, talented rivals including Madison Keys effectively conceded that when the Ipswich-born star was playing at her peak, she was unbeatable.

But the ease of her play on the court, and her mild demeanour, are a camouflage. Barty has trained extremely hard for a number of years to get to a position where she was conquering the world.

As her coach Craig Tyzzer told this journalist at Pat Rafter Arena on the eve of the 2020 AFL grand final, he doubted few if any women in the world trained as hard as what the star did.

Barty climbed a mountain in January that proved beyond Australian tennis champions for more than four decades, which includes world No. 1s Pat Rafter and Lleyton Hewitt.

But that challenge gave her time to reassess.

There was a whisper at the time she was considering her future.

As she said on Wednesday, in truth she was considering her future since her success at Wimbledon. Claiming the Australian Open felt like the perfect way to finish her career.

Future dreams await. She is fulfilled and happy.

But her legacy will continue.

She will continue to spend time spreading her love of tennis, but that will be in domains from her family to Indigenous communities and beyond.
Given her success on the court, and her good grace and leadership, it is indisputable that will continue in other arenas.