Ashleigh Barty was meant to be one of the best tennis players in the WTA history. However, at her peak she decided to make a crucial change in her lifestyle, including her tennis career. Therefore, the 2018 US Open doubles champion won’t play in the 2022 US Open.
In 2019, Barty’s tennis career made a breakthrough as she clinched the French Open. Since then, Barty started to rise up, and got herself a name in the Women Tennis Association. Despite she didn’t play in 2020, last year’s tour performancewas promising for Barty’s success.
So, in the 2021 Wimbledon Championships, Barty clinched her second Grand Slam title. This gave her a major status as the best women’s singles player. And this year’stourstart couldn’t have been better. Barty won her third Grand Slam title in Australia, but she made a big statement after.
2022 US Open:Why is Ashleigh Barty not playing in the last Grand Slam of the year?
Just two months afer Ashleigh Barty won the 2022 Australian Open to Danielle Collins, she decided to announce her retirement from tennis. In an interview with her friend and former doubles partner, Casey Dellacqua, 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 any more. I am spent.”
Barty became the second player to retire while holding the No. 1 ranking after Justine Henin. Henin briefly returned to the WTA Tour 20 months after retiring. During this first couple of months, the Australian had her wedding, and started a career in golf.
However, this isn’t the first time Barty retired or took a break from tennis.After the 2014 US Open, Barty announced she was “(taking)a break from professional tennis. Then, she said that she took time off from tennis because “it was too much too quickly for me as I’ve been travelling from quite a young age.I wanted to experience life as a normal teenaged girl and have some normal experiences.”