Ash Barty retires from tennis

Shame to see such an inspirational player retire at the height of her powers. She said she is done physically and I'm sure she thought this through very well. If her body and mind allowed, she could have given so much more to the world of tennis, could have been an amazing ambassador of the sport and an amazing contributor to everyone's wallets.

surprising news ,though she has never semed totally in love with the game or driven to collect titles ,woldnt rule out her coming back in a year or two though.

Her missing IW and Miami felt strange to me; now it all makes sense. She didn't love the game even though she's incredibly good at playing it

She already was a great ambassador of the sport. She used her platform carefully but was not afraid to articulate her thoughts, most recently when standing up for Gadecki in the stormy chaos of Melbourne. For this reason I don't think she'll be back.

She essentially had two careers, a successful doubles career and an exceptional singles career.
She was a world number one for over 2 years consecutively in a rapidly changing era.
She achieved an important personal target of winning her home slam.
She has nothing left to prove.

to leave a sport in your absolute prime for no apparent reason tells me she's not all that into tennis but it paid the bills, a shame as was looking forward to Swiatek/Barty and maybe Raducanu mini rivalries. She also struck me a bit of a homebody, many interviews she came across as homesick on the verge of tears. What exactly is she planning on doing next that can replace this drug.

Spare a thought for all those journeymen/women pros struggling to eek out a living & she decides to walkaway from at least £5m a year in prizemoney alone.

passing up prize money and sponsorship of 100m probably so she must hate her job. maybe she will turn to golf. she plays off 2 or something and her fiance is referred to as a semi pro.

A few times this week it's been brought up that certain players who'd been 'going through the motions' with tennis rediscovered their passion for it during the enforced time off of lockdowns which had been the first extended break to get perspective and thinking time away from their usual schedule. 

The flipside of that unique time for extended reflection is that a player like Ash could have made a complete re-evaluation of her life, journey and options. So it doesn't necessarily mean she wasn't into tennis.

She may just have made use of a once in a lifetime opportunity to thoroughly review the bigger picture without the distractions of the bubble and then adjusted her life journey as a result.

Ash has won her first golf title since retiring from tennis. Yesterday she won the Brookwater Golf and Country Club ladies event for a second time, pocketing a cheque for 30 Aus$

The Express reports

It comes as no surprise to many in the Australian golfing community, with the 25-year-old known for her ability, carrying a zero handicap.
World Golf Hall of Famer Karrie Webb, who will captain Australia’s golf teams at the 2024 Paris Olympics, admitted she could see the 25-year-old turning to a golf career.

“I don’t see Ash wanting to do a sport where she has to travel the world, I think that’s part of what she didn’t like about tennis, being away from Australia. But I wouldn’t put it past her to be Australian amateur champion one day," she said.