Ashleigh Barty admits to missing the essence of “competing and challenging against the best” while remaining firm on her retirement decision
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Ashleigh Barty
Former Australian player Ashleigh Barty sent ripples through the tennis world when she announced her retirement back in March 2022 when she was merely 25 years of age. She made the announcement after winning her maiden Australian Open title and it was the last time she appeared on the court. She admitted to having no plans for any comeback to tennis but misses the level of competitiveness.
The former World No 1 totally dominated women’s tennis and remained at the top of the WTA rankings for a record 121 weeks overall. Her 114 consecutive weeks at No. 1 is the fourth-longest streak in WTA history. She had even taken a brief break from tennis for almost two years, where she tried her hands at cricket despite not having any formal training. Barty won 15 singles titles and 12 doubles titles on the WTA Tour.
Ashleigh Barty had earlier stated that she no longer regrets taking early retirement as long as she is happy and contained about it. She will be launching her autobiography titled ‘My Dream Time: A Memoir of Tennis and Teamwork’ where the popular personality has talked about her retirement in its entirety to her fans and viewers.
During the cover launch of her book, the former tennis star even went on to claim that she is feeling some sort of vacuum but doesn’t miss the other aspects that come with being a pro. As per the former World No. 1 herself, she is still quite competitive and loves to take up challenges in different ways.
The Australian Open defending champion revealed in an interview, “I miss competing and challenging myself against the best in the world, but I don’t miss a lot that comes with it. Now I’m probably getting used to challenging myself in different ways and seeing how else I can be stimulated, seeing how else I can still compete, how else I can still grow. And I think doing that at home now is really fun. I’m finalizing what we’ll be doing but, yeah, it’s cool. It’s crazy to think that it is only a couple of months away, honestly. The year has flown by. But we will be here for bits and bobs.”
Ashleigh Barty opened up about her mental health struggles in the cover launch of her autobiography
Ashleigh Barty opened up about her journey not only as a professional tennis player but as a person. She admitted to her struggles with her physical appearance, which led to discomfort, unease, and terror. But she vowed to encourage the younger generation not to be afraid of imperfections but rather to be confident in their own skins.
The 2021 Wimbledon champion further went ahead to reveal some of her own insecurities over her physical appearance. As per Ashleigh herself, she always felt timid and insecure among the other beautiful female players as she would often feel left out in the locker rooms and had a tough time dealing with such issues, and could not feel unique. Post-retirement, she is quite enjoying her life away from tennis and has been spotted a few times playing golf, which sparked rumors of opting for another sport.
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Prateek Pradhan
(601 Articles Published)