Ashleigh Barty of Australia poses with the trophy during a photo shoot after winning the Women s singles final match of the French Open tennis tournament at the Roland Garros in Paris, France on June 9, 2019. PUBLICATIONxINxGERxSUIxAUTxHUNxONLY (105420871)
Ashleigh Barty revealed her decision of retiring from tennis in a recorded video posted on Instagram where she was having a conversation with former doubles partner Casey Dellacqua. The announcement comes as a shock to the tennis community especially when Barty was at her peak and is the reigning Wimbledon and Australian Open Champion. Ashleigh Barty stated that she is retiring from tennis to ‘chase other dreams’. She explained that she is ‘spent both physically and mentally and has nothing more to offer to the sport.
Since her announcement, there have been numerous speculations about what Barty could do next. A foray into golf seems very likely. Barty is an avid golf lover and plays the sport at an amateur level. Barty’s father, Robert was a golfer who represented Australia at an amateur level in the 1980s. Barty’s fiance Garry Kissick is a professional golfer and the couple met each other at the Brookwater County Golf Club. Barty loves to golf and that makes the sport a very likely career option for her.
“I always used to muck around in the backyard with whatever old golf clubs I could find. Golf has always been a sport that comes quite naturally to me“, Barty had earlier stated in an interview.
This is the second time Barty has retired from tennis. On the previous occasion in 2014, she retired and made a switch to cricket, playing for Brisbane Heat in the Women’s Big Bash League. She made a comeback to tennis in 2016 and had a very successful stint. Last time, she was signed by Women’s Big Bash League franchise Brisbane Heat and scored 39 runs off just 27 balls in her very first match. She went on to play nine of the team’s fourteen games that season.
Barty also played for Brisbane’s Western Suburbs District Cricket Club and ended up scoring a century for the team in the final that season. Many fans in Australia and in the cricketing world would be hoping Barty picks up the bat once again.
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