Winner of Australian Open Retires Unexpectedly

Tennis #1, Ash Barty Hangs It Up at 25

Ash Barty shocked the sporting world this week with her sudden and unexpected retirement from professional tennis. The reigning Australian Open champion posted an honest and heartfelt video on her social media accounts to explain her reasoning for her decision and stated that she no longer had the physical or emotional drive to compete at the highest level. Although it came as a surprise to fans, the tennis world quickly came to support her decision and began to celebrate her legacy in the sport.

Barty, who has been ranked #1 in the WTA rankings for the last 114 weeks, has been one of the most dominant tennis players in the world in recent years. After having success in women’s doubles, winning the US Open with CoCo Vandeweghe in 2018, Barty finally broke through in the singles game by winning the French Open in 2019. Her success continued as she won the Wimbledon Championships in 2021 and received a bronze medal in mixed doubles at the 2020 Olympic Games in Tokyo. Barty concluded her tennis career on top, by becoming the first Australian woman to win the Australian Open since 1978.

Where will Barty go from here? Professional athletes have historically struggled post-retirement without proper plans in place for what to do next. However, it’s safe to say that Barty won’t have that issue. In 2014, Barty temporarily retired from tennis after citing an intense travel schedule as a teenager for reasons contributing to her burnout from the sport. Instead of taking time off like most athletes during a break, Barty joined the Brisbane Heat women’s cricket team in Australia after never playing competitive cricket in her life. Once again, she found success and was signed to their professional squad for the 2015/16 season. After the season ended in February 2016, she returned to professional tennis and started her second journey to the top of women’s tennis.

Given the comments in her interview, it’s likely that we won’t see Barty playing professional tennis again, at least not for a while. Barty is happy with her decision to retire on top and seems genuinely excited about her future. Some suggest that she might be headed towards professional golf. Barty is a “fanatic” of the sport and has even impressed Tiger Woods with her swing at the 2019 Presidents Cup in Melbourne. With her history of trying new sports, it would not be surprising to see Barty find success in the golf industry.

Although many fans are disappointed with her decision to retire from the sport at such a young age, some believe that this is only another “temporary” retirement from the defending champion. As we have seen recently, retirements in sports are not always what they seem. After 44-year-old Tom Brady returned from his long-awaited retirement to announce he’s coming back for a 23rd season in the NFL, some fans have a hard time believing in retirement. It’s been used as a ploy for attention in the past by athletes such as Floyd Mayweather, Michael Jordon, George St. Pierre, and Rob Gronkowski. Whether they meant it at the moment or not, many athletes are pulled back into the sport after retirement, contradicting their original statements.

Despite the history with professional athletes retiring on top and coming back in the future, it's safe to say that fans will respect Ash Barty’s decision regardless of what she does later in life. Barty retired as the #1 ranked women’s tennis player after winning a Grand Slam in her home country, it doesn’t get much sweeter than that.

Published: March 25, 2022 - Issue 31 of The Sport Marketeer