If you had known on Tuesday that a world-class female tennis player was going to announce on Wednesday that they were retiring and you had to guess who it was,no-one would have hesitated in naming Naomi Osaka. As brilliant a player as Osaka is,her unhappiness is there for all to see,and from the point of view of her mental health alone,it would make a lot of sense. If it was a male,you would have said Nick Kyrgios and for much the same reason.
Ash Barty,25,stunned the sporting world in an emotional interview posted to social media,where she announced her retirement.
But this? Ash Barty? Very few people would have seen that coming.
What other examples are there of someone of Barty’s stature simply saying,at the height of their powers and out of a clear blue sky,“Thanks,but I’ve had enough now,and I am done”?
With an honourable mention to Mark Ella,I can only think of Bjorn Borg and Michael Jordan. And for both professional superstars their announcements proved to presage just brief interregnums in their career before they were back at it.
Somehow with Barty,this feels different,like shereally means it and genuinely ... is ... done.
Yes,yes,of course this is the second time she has so announced,and the last time she was back a little more than 18 months later.
Back then,when she retired,it was through her sheer fatigue and dissatisfaction with the whole life of the professional tennis player –if this is Tuesday,this must be Rome – and this is quite different.
This time,rather than a dissatisfaction with the whole tennis life,the primary reason given is that rarest of all things:asurfeitof satisfaction.
“I’m so happy and I’m so ready,” she said on her Instagram feed,“and I just know at the moment in my heart for me as a person,this is right ... Success for me is knowing that I’ve given absolutely everything,everything I can. I’m fulfilled,I’m happy.”
After winning Wimbledon last year,she had reached the top of her personal Everest,realised her long-held dream.
Ash Barty celebrates after winning the 2021 Wimbledon crown by beating Karolina Pliskova.POOL
“To be able to win Wimbledon,which was my dream,my one true dream that I wanted in tennis,that really changed my perspective.”
See? What else did she want to achieve in the field? Win Wimbledon a few more times,perhaps? Sure,but no one who ever got to the top of Everest the second and third times ever reported more satisfaction than the first. Win more majors? Yup. But she has already won the French and the Australian Opens and while it would no doubt be great to win the US Open the thing is – and she was honest enough toherself to acknowledge the truth – that would require a level of commitment she doesn’t feel anymore.
“I’ve given absolutely everything,everything I can. I’m fulfilled,I’m happy,and I know how much work it takes to bring the best out of yourself.”
See?
Somehow,the same insouciant genius that came with that killer backhand and wonderful serve did not come complete with a desire just to grind it out for years on end,even though her heart would not be completely in it.
But hang on,what about making a lot more money then?
That has never been her thing,and she has never shown the tiniest sign of being particularly interested in great riches. And nor has she ever seemed to define herself purely as a tennis player. She was never “Ash Barty,tennis player”,she was always “Ash Barty who played great tennis,among many other things”.
So in an act all but unprecedented in sport,she decided she really was going to leave behind her tennis career at her very height. How to announce it?
Others would have milked it to the last drop. They would have lined up a big press conference,had sponsors logos behind them and even sponsors beside them –a laIan Thorpe announcing his comeback – as they made the announcement that would go around the world.
Not Barty. She simply reached out to an old friend now in the media,Casey Dellacqua,and asked her to do the honours,interviewing her for an Instagram post. That way wouldn’t help Barty much,but it would pump up Casey’s tyres,so do it that way!
Bottom line? Barty left the stage exactly the way she spent her time upon it. With class. And as a one-off.
Fare thee well,Ash Barty. We are sad the #BartyParty really is over,for we intended to enjoy it for years. But we will long remember you fondly,just as we do your hero and mentor,Evonne Goolagong Cawley.
Bravissima Barty.
Twitter:@Peter_Fitz