Brisbane – Tennis world number one Ashleigh Barty wants to remain closely connected to the sport even after her surprising retirement.
“I’ll never stop loving the sport and I’ll never stop hitting tennis balls,” the 25-year-old Australian said in Brisbane. “It’s just that I’m not going to do it selfishly anymore to try and further my career.” The Australian Open winner had earlier announced her career end, completely unexpected by the public.
Looking forward to coaching youngsters and “making a contribution”, Barty stressed. “I can’t wait to teach my nieces and nephews and hope they will love tennis as much as I do. “
More time for the fiancé
In the future, she said she wants to spend more time with her family above all else. “I’ve always been a domestic person, that’s where I recharge my batteries, that’s where I get my energy from.” Barty has been engaged to professional golfer Garry Kissick since last year. “This is a new chapter for Garry and me now, and it’s going to be a lot of fun,” she said.
She left open whether she would like to try her hand at other sports in the future. At 18, she had already interrupted her career once for almost two years because of the pressure and too much travelling and played professional cricket during the break. “I’ve always been an athlete in the sense that I’ve tried different things,” Barty said now. “We’ll see what happens.”
For 114 weeks, the right-hander, born in Ipswich near Brisbane, had been at the top of the world rankings. Only three players had a longer streak than her: Steffi Graf (186), Serena Williams (186) and Martina Navratilova (156). Barty had secured a home triumph in Melbourne for the first time since 1978 at the end of January. She has won a total of three Grand Slams in her career. Before the Australian Open, she had already won at Wimbledon and the French Open. “I wouldn’t change a thing and I have no regrets,” Barty concluded.
