Throughout the chaotic month of January, Ash Barty burst into the new tennis season in full flow, dismantling all challengers. She scythed them with her backhand slice, out-served opponents who towered over her by half a foot or more, and continually displayed her encyclopaedic knowledge of each opponent’s game, homing in on their weaknesses and methodically picking them apart.
In a sport where players tend to focus only on themselves, that last quality is distinct enough. But it is even more fascinating considering Barty’s relationship with tennis. Despite the game flowing through her veins, it is not of particular interest to her aside from personal ambitions and daily work. Off the court she keeps a healthy distance from it, her hobbies are elsewhere, and tennis is never on the TV when she is nearby. “It’s gonna be a great match,” Barty said, when asked about the second semi-final after she reached the Australian Open final. She chuckled to herself. “I probably won’t watch it.”
While Barty’s decision to retire on Wednesday at the age of just 25, as the No 1 player in the world and during such a beautiful moment in her career, is a shock on the surface, the manner of her departure fits perfectly with the way she has conducted her career.
Since 2014, when as an 18-year-old she took an indefinite break from the sport because of burnout and depression, her message has been consistent. She has worked hard, with ambition and drive, but her priorities have remained her family, personal happiness and mental wellbeing.
Barty has always done things her own way. She scheduled tournaments sparingly, always ensuring she had enough time to return home during the season and to enjoy her various other sporting hobbies. When she couldn’t compete without compromising those priorities, as in 2020 when she sat out the second half of the season during Australia’s strictest Covid restrictions, she chose herself.
Barty’s careful career management is also what made last year so special. Once she left Australia and resumed competition around the world, she could not return until the end of the year. Barty had to fully commit to the chaos that could follow, travelling from tournament to tournament without a proper base and playing more frequently than she ever has. She did.
The physical and mental strain was immense, yet those efforts culminated in Barty achieving the ultimate goal of her career at the tournament she impatiently waits for each year: Wimbledon. It makes sense that as she reflected on adding the Australian Open title to her Wimbledon victory of 2021, she came to the conclusion she had achieved what she had set out to do.
Every early retirement in this sport comes with a caveat. Tennis players, particularly in the women’s game, truly love a comeback. The most obvious comparison to Barty’s retirement is Justine Henin’s shock departure in 2008, a player to whom Barty is frequently compared, and who was also world No 1 when she decided to retire. Henin eventually came back in 2010.
The difference between them, though, is Henin was already burned out by 2008 and it showed in her results. By comparison, Barty is 11-0 in 2022. It is remarkable she has the self-awareness to assess her situation while standing at the top of the mountain, rather than while beginning to tumble down it.
Her message has held out until the end; her tennis career, however successful, joyful and lucrative it has been, should not significantly impact her day-to-day happiness and she has constantly sought perspective in victory and defeat. The possibility of chasing more greatness in tennis is far less important than the off-court contentment she seeks.
The career she has built is sublime regardless. Barty has already recorded more total weeks at No 1 than all but six women in history, recently passing Henin. Only Steffi Graf, Serena Williams, Martina Navratilova and Chris Evert had more consecutive weeks at No 1 than Barty’s 113.
Barty’s game itself is peerless; she has the best-ever serve for a player of her height, while her backhand slice is one of the great shots of this era. Her forehand, underrated due to the attention on her other talents, dragged opponents off the court with wicked angles and weight. Her talented hands and court sense are paired with incredible athleticism and defence. Her complete game has allowed her to seamlessly adapt to all surfaces and win on all of them.
A happy ending for Barty is still a difficult loss for her sport. It would have been interesting to see what effect a sustained period of dominance from Barty had on the tour. A true rivalry, something the sport desperately needs, regrettably evaded her. Naomi Osaka should have been her great adversary but the pair somehow managed to completely avoid each other for three years even as they won a combined seven major titles. Just three days ago, meanwhile, it seemed that Iga Swiatek, the new world No 2, was on an unavoidable collision course with Barty. Not any more.
For such an understated personality, the climax that Barty engineered for herself will be hard to forget. Her final match was on Rod Laver Arena in the Australian Open final, the most watched women’s sporting event in the history of her country, and one of the great Australian sporting moments full stop. Her career ended with one last smooth forehand winner and as the stadium erupted, Barty squeezed her eyes shut and roared into the dark Melbourne sky.
