How difficult it must be to give up everything when at the peak of one’s game. That’s the thought that struck most tennis fans when news broke on Wednesday that Ashleigh Barty had decided to retire at the pinnacle of her career, at age 25. Some called it a brave decision by a brilliant, if a tad unpredictable, athlete; others murmured that she had been foolhardy, she could have had more weeks as World No 1, more silverware and definitely more money in the bank.
Athletes are the best judge of their careers, guided by their strengths, frailties, aspirations and fitness levels.
Roger Federer is still enjoying tennis at the age of 40. If his fitness permits, he is still good for a year or two. Why would he wish to retire when he is still so much in love with tennis?
When Sunil Gavaskar played in his final Test at the age of 37 in March 1987, an epic innings of 96 on a beast of a pitch in Bangalore, questions were asked, “Why now?” Which is probably better than being asked ‘why not’.
As Frank Sinatra sang, many a sportsperson decided to do it “my way”.
Swedish great Bjorn Borg had, like Barty, also stunned the tennis world when he retired at the age of 26. Borg had won 11 grand slams by the age of 25 but quit as a professional in early 1983. He did make a return to the sport in 1991 when he was 35 but it wasn’t the Borg of old.
There have been other such ‘why now’ retirements: American swimmer Mark Spitz retired at the age of 22 having won nine Olympic gold medals; the German racer Nico Rosberg decided to bow out at the age of 31 just five days after pipping Mercedes team-mate Lewis Hamilton to win his first ever F1 championship in 2016; boxer Rocky Marciano walked away at age 32 having won all his 49 professional fights, the only heavyweight to retire with an undefeated record; football maverick Eric Cantona announced his retirement aged 30 just days after leading Manchester United to a league title in 1997.
Barty, at a news conference in Brisbane on Thursday, said she “certainly has no regrets” about her decision. After all, she retires with $23.8 million in prize money and 15 titles, including three grand slam singles crowns.
But more than her tennis, what stands out for Barty is her ability to understand herself. She had stepped away from the sport earlier as well. At the age of 18, depressed and homesick, she took a break of a year-and-a-half from tennis. She underwent therapy, played cricket for the Brisbane Heat in the Women’s Big Bash League’s inaugural 2015-16 season, went fishing on advice from her inspiration Evonne Goolagong Cawley and bought a new home close to her family residence in Springfield, near Brisbane. When she came back to tennis, in June 2016, she was unranked but her hunger for the sport was back.
Within three years, she had won her first grand slam, the French Open in 2019, the first Australian to win a singles title at Roland Garros since Margaret Court in 1973.
Then came the pandemic, and she took another break, this time for 11 months, and again came back with renewed vigour, winning her dream title at Wimbledon last year followed by the Australian Open in January this year. And in between, Barty, a self-confessed “home-body”, made plans to build another dream house, also in Springfield.
Barty has asserted that her decision to quit is sparked by a desire to “chase dreams” outside the tennis court. “I’m excited for what’s next for my next chapter as Ash Barty, the person and not the athlete,” she iterated on Thursday.
In that is a glimpse of her inner strength and immense guts — there’s a risk that her future endeavours may not be as successful. Will she then make a comeback? Like Borg or basketball legend Michael Jordan? Barty didn’t say no.
“You never say never,” she said. “But,” she hastened to add, “it’s a long way off at this stage.”
It takes courage to step away when at the top of one’s game and fame. And on one’s own terms. Barty has done it, her own way.
