If Ashleigh Barty never returns to the tennis circuit – and there are no guarantees that she won't – a "what if" will surely pierce rows and debates about the women's game.
How much would she have won if she'd stayed on the tour to bewitch her adversaries with varying spins and trajectories? How would she have coped with the rising stars like 20-year-old Iga Swiatek or the grit of Maria Sakkari?
Ones for the ages, sadly.
Barty - 114 weeks as world number one and three Grand Slam crowns to the good - revealed she was calling time on her tennis moment at the age of 25.
The decision was announced on Wednesday during a chat on social media with her long time chum and former doubles partner Casey Dellacqua.
And why not? Barty has always done things her way.
Anyone for cricket?
In 2014, as a rising star, the teenager headed away from the tennis circuit to pursue her love of cricket. And she was pretty good at that.
From the Western Suburbs District Cricket Club in Brisbane, she progressed to the Brisbane Heat for the 2015-16 season of the 20-over matches in the Women's Big Bash League.
There were also appearances in two 50-over games for Queensland in the Women's National Cricket League.
By 2017 though she was back on the senior women's tour with a renewed vigour.
"It truly was an amazing period of my life," Barty said. "I met an amazing group of people who couldn't care less whether I could hit a tennis ball or not. They accepted me, and they got to know Ash Barty. They got to know me."
That drive for "me" could well provide the roadmap for scores of athletes operating under pressure to heap success upon triumph.
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In tennis, Naomi Osaka's meltdown at the French Open in 2021 over the mental turmoil she feels during post-match media interviews serves to underline Barty's plain common sense.
Why wait to disintegrate when the signs of cracking up are self-evident?
"I know how much work it takes to bring the best out of yourself and I’ve said it to my team multiple times, it’s just I don’t have that in me any more," Barty said.
"I don’t have the physical drive, the emotional want and everything it takes to challenge yourself at the very top of the level.
"I just know that I am absolutely – I am spent – I just know physically I have nothing more to give. And that to me is success. I have given absolutely everything I can to this beautiful sport of tennis."
The woman is so grounded she could be a tectonic plate.
Yet the paradox of her reductive thinking is likely to yield rewards for others.
Shortly after becoming the first Australian woman to win a home Grand Slam singles title since Christine McNeil in 1978, Barty, from the indigenous Ngarigo people, took her trophy to show to youngsters from the Mutitjulu community near Uluru in central Australia.
Australian Open winner @ashbarty has scarcely touched a racquet since her masterful fortnight at Melbourne Park.
— CodeSports (@codesportsau) February 27, 2022
The Ngarigo woman visited Uluru last week, bringing tennis to the Mutitjulu community.
️✍️🎦 @walshcee
STORY & PHOTOS: https://t.co/shDO23jW4p pic.twitter.com/SV3ujXSVAs
A hint perhaps of one of her next steps?
Barty's coach Craig Tyzzer told journalists in the aftermath of her announcement that he suspected change was a-coming.
"I sort of started believing after Wimbledon," Tyzzer said. "I mean, that was an obvious goal for us and once she achieved it ... well ... I think once we got to the Olympics, it sort of hit home for me, that there wasn’t much left in her.
"The motivation wasn’t there except when she played doubles and mixed doubles, her singles really went by the wayside.
"I sort of felt she’d climbed where she needed to get to and it was going to be a hard slog to keep her involved."
Willpower
And if anyone knows about Barty's force, it is the man who has been with her since her return from a two-year hiatus.
He has been part of the inner sanctum for the Grand Slam victories at the French Open in 2019 as well as last year's Wimbledon – where she won the girl's singles in 2011 – and in Melbourne at the turn of the year.
As well as those three major crowns, Barty claimed the 2019 women's end-of-season championships as well as tournaments in Miami and Cincinnati, which are just below the Grand Slam events in terms of prestige.
She walks away with 15 titles overall and career earnings of more than €20 million.
A tidy sum to finance her love of golf, fishing and reading.
She departs with inestimable amounts of good will. Tributes have poured in from her fellow players.
Former world number 1 Simona Halep posted a picture of the pair at the net following a match. Warmth and mutual respect radiates from the smiles and the handshakes after combat.
Ash, what can I say, you know I have tears right? My friend, I will miss you on tour. You were different, and special, and we shared some amazing moments. What's next for you? Grand Slam champion in golf?! Be happy and enjoy your life to the max xo Simo@ashbarty pic.twitter.com/WbX7kXnJ1l
— Simona Halep (@Simona_Halep) March 23, 2022
Ironically, during her short career, Barty could rewire the women's tour circuitry in the same way as the Williams sisters have done with their ethos and longevity.
Straight outta Compton came the sisters and once into their formidable stride, they sought out extra-curricular activities such as fashion and design as they continued to amass the trophies.
Not the done thing, it was said. But two black women at the top of the sport had never been a tennis thing. So why would they follow the "proper" way?
Had they accepted fitting form, they wouldn't have been in the position to be criticised.
Understanding
Comprehension of athletes' mindsets have evolved since the restrictive parameters that dogged the Williamses.
And the successes of Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal at Grand Slam tournaments after time away – albeit due to injuries – have also redefined the concepts of how to prepare for the biggest tests in the sport.
"How have we reached a point where it is surprising for a top athlete to have a healthy mindset?" wrote Cath Bishop in an article for the British newspaper The Guardian.
The former Olympic rower turned diplomat and author, offers advice to The True Athlete Project, a scheme that tries to ensure that sports people maintain balance as they strive after their goals.
"So often do we forget that athletes are also daughters, friends, partners, with any number of other interests," wrote Bishop.
"Questions of identity are particularly perilous for athletes. Once defined solely by accomplishments of hitting balls, pulling oars or throwing objects, mental health challenges quickly follow: injury becomes a life crisis; transition and retirement can feel devastating; poor results can attack self-worth.
Go out on a high
"Barty has been very smart by defining success on her own terms. She created a new way to enjoy the tennis experience, consciously creating a calendar that prevented a repeat of burnout and surrounding herself with a trusted team to share the journey alongside her."
Millions of spectators have been thrilled – though not perhaps her opponents – by Barty's vicious backhand slice and her angled cross-court forehands.
And it will be a hard heart indeed that isn't warmed by that dimpled smile, be it born of victory or defeat.
She leaves as queen of the scene for the world of number 1.
Another winner from a winner.
