Former tennis world No.1 Ash Barty has ruled out a return to the court - and a move into another professional sport.
Barty shocked the world of tennis when she announced her retirement from the game in March, aged just 25. The Australian star cited the pursuit of other life goals and a lack of drive as the key reasons behind her surprise decision. The former French Open, Wimbledon and Australian Open winner had spent 121 weeks as the dominant no.1 in the rankings and had completed her home Grand Slam dream in Melbourne just weeks before she stepped away from the sport.
Barty turned professional aged just 14 and won 15 titles in a storied career that will go down as one of the greatest, despite its early curtailment, with Grand Slam victories on clay, grass and hard courts.
The future path that Barty will take is still unclear after calling time on her illustrious tennis career. She had initially left the sport in 2014 to build a professional career in cricket and played for Brisbane Heat in the women's Big Bash League.
And after making her mark on tour following a break from tennis in 2016, some fans had hoped that another comeback could be on the cards for Barty. But the 26-year-old cross-sports star has reiterated that she has no interest to returning to tennis - or professional sport in any other capacity.
"Nope, I'm done," Barty told AAP while promoting her new book 'My Dream Time'. "You can never say never but no. No, no, no. I'm done. I miss competing and challenging myself against the best of the world but I don't miss a lot that comes with it.
"I'm still competitive with myself when I train at home. I still try and push myself but there's no white-line fever any more. And I never really felt like there was this void that needed to be filled in because there was a genuine sense of fulfilment at the end of my career. I don't think I was still searching for the competitive beast anymore.'
She added: "Now I have probably understood and realised that I've had an extremely full, fulfilling, incredible journey in my athletic and professional career and now it's time to close that chapter."
