Russia president Vladimir Putin has been accused of ruining Ash Barty’s retirement plans. The 25-year-old stunned the tennis world when she announced her immediate retirement from the sport this week.
She hangs up her racket while at the top of the women’s game as the world number one and the reigning Australian Open and Wimbledon champion. "Today is difficult and filled with emotion for me as I announce my retirement from tennis," Barty wrote in an Instagram post which was accompanied by an interview.
She said: “Timing is everything, I’m a big believer in that. After the Australian Open, I was really hoping that we’d get the opportunity to play a home Fed Cup tie but that wasn’t to be, that wasn’t the case and I just knew that for me, the time was right. I was preparing to play. Obviously, the event didn’t go ahead, which again throws a spanner into the works with my timing and my plans."
Barty last played when she became the first Australian woman to win at Melbourne Park since Chris O'Neil in 1978, and also the eighth female player to win a major on three different surfaces. However, the star had planned to play one more tournament before leaving the game.
Barty said she wanted to play Australia’s home tie against Slovakia in the Billie Jean King Cup, which was initially scheduled to take place next month. However, the tie was scrapped after the Russian team was expelled from the Cup subject to Mr Putin’s invasion of Ukraine, with Australia and Slovakia receiving byes to the 2022 Finals.
Sections of the Australian media directly accused Russian President Vladimir Putin of raining on Barty's retirement parade. "Vladimir Putin, Russian invasion ruined Ash Barty’s dream retirement plan" ran the headline on one piece from News.com.au. Furthermore, Yahoo Sports Australia went with "How Vladimir Putin ruined Ash Barty's retirement plan."
Barty acknowledged tennis players do not always get the perfect scenario in which to bow out, but was pleased with how her career came to an end in front of her home fans. She said: “I’d given absolutely everything that I could to this sport and I knew that it wouldn’t be fair to my team and to people who have invested so much time and energy into my life to not be 100 percent committed for them. There is no perfect way, there is no perfect timing but this was our perfect way, and it was a great finish."
Both Russian and Belarusian tennis players have been banned from playing tennis team events in one of several sanctions imposed amid the ongoing conflict in Ukraine. In singles competition, all Russian and Belarusian players are currently competing as neutral athletes with no reference to Russia and the flag has been removed from ATP/WTA programming and their respective websites.
