Top-ranked tennis star Ash Barty shocks the world by announcing her retirement at 25
- Tennis superstar and world No. 1 Ash Barty announced her retirement from professional tennis.
- The three-time Grand Slam champion said on Instagram: "I have nothing more to give."
World tennis no. 1 Ash Barty has announced her retirement from professional tennis at just 25 years old.
The three-time Grand Slam champion and the sport's top-ranked star for 112 consecutive weeks announced her shocking decision in a six-minute Instagram interview with player-turned-commentator Casey Dellacqua.
In the clip, Barty insisted that despite competing at the highest levels of tennis as recently as two months ago, she's sure that "this is right."
"My happiness wasn't dependent on the results," Barty said in the video. "Success for me is knowing that I've given absolutely everything I can. I'm fulfilled, I'm happy, and I know how much work it takes to bring the best out of yourself. And I've said it to my team multiple times — I just don't have that in me anymore."
The Australian star noted that her perspective began to shift after she won Wimbledon in 2021, besting Karolína Plíšková in three sets to win her the second singles Grand Slam of her career. Barty called winning the London-based tournament — widely seen as the most prestigious event in tennis — "the one true dream that I wanted in tennis."
She described a "gut feeling" that she was ready to cast her racket aside, but simultaneously felt that "there was just a little part of me that wasn't quite satisfied, wasn't quite fulfilled."
"And then came the challenge of the Australian Open," she added.
Barty won her home nation's Grand Slam in January, six months after her Wimbledon victory. Hoisting the Daphne Akhurst Memorial Cup on her home turf was enough. She was ready to be done.
"That, for me, just feels like the perfect way — my perfect way — to celebrate what an amazing journey my tennis career has been," Barty said.
Towards the end of the clip, Barty admitted that "it's scary" to announce her retirement at such a young age, but reiterated that "it's right."
And now that her tennis career is behind her, she's ready "to chase after some other dreams."
Check out the full video in which Barty announces her retirement below: