Major Shock as Women World Number 1 Leaves the Court for Good

On the Tuesday 22nd March Ash Barty left the court for the second time. After winning three grand slams she hung up her racquet to pursue her dreams outside the sport. She announced to all her fans on Instagram that she was retiring, shocking the whole tennis community by quitting at such a young age.

Ash Barty was born on 24th April 1996 and educated by Woodcrest State College. She started tennis at the age of 4. She had a strong junior career winning the Wimbledon girls singles. In 2014 Barty took a break from tennis and started playing for a women cricket team then returning in 2016. After returning, her career flourished winning the WTA title. Then ranking 17 after never reaching the top 100 before her break. Then in 2018 she won the Grand slam only to do it again in 2019. She carried on and won 5 other trophies in 2021. So, it seems she was in her prime when she left. This makes us wonder why she would leave so suddenly at this time.

She has not yet opened up to what these dreams outside of tennis are but we believe that she may go back to cricket as she has a place in a team even though she had never had training before. This means that she has raw talent in the game. Ash Barty also says she has “given absolutely everything.” So she wants to have a break from the hard work and determination that one needs to be able to play pro tennis.

Emma Raducanu is upset as she did not have a chance to play the 25 year old. She also expressed that she has no intention of ending her career that early and thinks she will carry on into her 30s. Andy Murray also says he is “happy for Ash but gutted for tennis.” Karolina Pliskova congratulates Barty on her incredible career. Mr. Winter thinks that Barty is a great player and says that tennis is a sport where to go pro one has to put ones heart and soul into it. This could mean that she got overwhelmed by it all and could not carry on. So she now wants to relax and enjoy life.

More information may come out about what she wants to do now and will be the focus of many tennis fans.

By George C and Zac S