World number one Ash Barty has announced her retirement from professional tennis at the age of 25. The Australian, who has won three grand slams and is the reigning Wimbledon and Australian Open champion, said she was retiring from the sport to "chase other dreams".
The Queenslander revealed she was retiring in an Instagram video recorded with friend and former doubles partner Casey Dellacqua. Barty said: "I kind of wasn’t quite sure how I was going do this but I think so many times in my life both my professional and my personal, you’ve been there for me.
"And I just couldn’t think ‘there’s no right way, there’s no wrong way’. It’s just my way and this is perfect for me to share it with you to talk to you about it with my team, my loved ones, that I’ll be retiring from tennis. And so first time I’ve actually said it out loud and yeah, it’s hard to say, but I’m so happy and I’m so ready and I just know at the moment in my heart for me as a person, this is right.
"I’ve had a lot of incredible moments in my career that have been pivotal moments," she added. "Wimbledon last year changed a lot for me as a person and for me as an athlete when you work so hard your whole life for one goal, and I’ve been able to share that with so many incredible people.
"But to be able to win Wimbledon, which was my dream, my one true dream that I wanted in tennis, that really changed my perspective." Barty promised in the caption to the video there would be "more to come tomorrow" at a press conference.
Barty began playing tennis at the age of four and had a promising junior career, which culminated in winning the girls' singles title at Wimbledon in 2011. Success on the WTA Tour came on the doubles circuit during the early stages of her professional career, reaching the Australian Open, Wimbledon and US Open finals - losing all three - alongside Dellacqua in 2013.
She decided to take a hiatus from the sport towards the tailend of the 2014 season and explored the possibility of playing cricket following a meeting with the Australian women's national cricket team in early 2015. Barty signed on for Queensland Fire and a local Brisbane team Western Suburbs, where she excelled, which led to coach Andy Richards signing her for Brisbane Heat in the inaugural Women's Big Bash League.
She shone in one fixture against Melbourne Stars, scoring 39 off 27 balls and became a remain member of the team but could not prevent them from finishing sixth from eight teams. Barty returned to tennis in February 2016 but her breakthrough came in the following year when she claimed her first WTA title at the Malaysian Open and reached the French Open doubles final with Dellacqua.
The pair, who became the first Australian women's doubles to reach all four grand slam finals, lost their fourth major final together before Dellacqua retired in 2018. Barty partnered American CoCo Vandeweghe for the remainder of the season and together won the US Open.
However, it was in 2019 when she triumphed at Roland Garros for her maiden singles grand slam crown and shortly after became world number one for the first time in her career. She reached another US Open final, this time with two-time singles grand slam champion Victoria Azarenka but could not successfully defend her title.
Despite an 11-month hiatus from the sport due to the coronavirus pandemic, Barty still remained at world number one in 2021 and won Wimbledon despite injury issues in the build-up to the tournament. Alongside John Peers in the mixed doubles, the pair won a bronze medal at Tokyo 2020.
But her final glory came on home soil earlier this year when she defeated American Danielle Collins at the Australian Open, becoming the first Australian woman to do so since Chris O'Neil in 1978. She did not drop a single set in the tournament.
