Former world No.1 Serena Williams said she was “sad” to hear the news Ash Barty was retiring from tennis at the age of just 25.
Barty shocked the sporting world yesterday by announcing she was hanging up the racquet immediately, just two months after becoming the first local since 1978 to win the Australian Open.
She is also the reigning Wimbledon champion and the top ranked player in the world.
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“I can’t lie I was sad to read your decision but also happy for your new chapter,” Williams wrote on Twitter.
“Always your fan close up and afar. Sending all my love”
Barty and Williams never really developed an on-court rivalry, with the American winning both matches they played, although both came before Barty’s breakthrough win at Roland-Garros in 2019.
Australian tennis legend Todd Woodbridge said Barty’s decision to call it quits makes sense when you step back and analyse the reasons behind it, even if the timing has caught everyone by surprise.
“What happened at the Australian Open would be almost impossible to beat,” he told Wide World of Sports.
“I don’t think Ash was ever going to be the type of champion that wanted to go and break records and be out on tour, because that was never the complete lifestyle she enjoyed.
“But by winning the Australian Open she has put herself into sporting folklore in our country. It was such an emotional high, everything went so perfectly that you can understand – and I can understand as an athlete – that you may not get back to that pinnacle. There’s no point in doing something in halves.
“This decision is based on being a Wimbledon champion, an Australian Open champion, and forever more relishing those successes.”
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Ash Barty’s Grand Slam wins and 2022 in pictures: Perfect moment as world No.1 makes history at Australian Open, then announces shock retirement
