World’s tennis number one Ashleigh Barty of Australia surprisingly announced the end of her professional career a month before she turned 26. The three-time Grand Slam champion Ashleigh Barty, who has topped the WTA rankings for the past 114 weeks, has 15 singles and 12 doubles titles, more than any other tennis player.
“It’s the first time I’ve said it out loud and it’s hard, but I feel happy, very happy. I don’t find physical and emotional motivation. The desire to challenge myself to be at my highest level has disappeared”, said Ashleigh Barty.
It is very rare for an athlete to retire when she is at the top and shows her best game, and she consolidated her dominance in women’s tennis at the end of January when she won the Australian Open. Her other two Slam singles titles were from 2021 Wimbledon and 2019 French Open / Roland Garros. In 2019 she also triumphed in the WTA Finals.
Ashleigh Barty ended her career with 305 wins in 407 singles matches and 200 successes in 264 doubles matches. She was at the top of the world rankings in a total of 121 weeks, which puts her in seventh place in the ranking of this indicator, and her current series of 114 consecutive weeks as number one is the fourth-longest.
“I know how much work and effort it takes to give your best. I have told my team several times that I no longer have this in me. Physically I can no longer. I gave everything to this wonderful sport of tennis and I am happy with what I have achieved. For me, this is a success”, said Ashleigh Barty.
Ashleigh Barty reached the doubles final in all four Grand Slam tournaments but won her only doubles trophy at the 2018 US Open.
She also has a bronze Olympic medal in mixed doubles from Tokyo 2020.
