‘I have no regrets about retiring – not one,’ says Ash Barty

Ash Barty has spoken about her shock retirement from tennis, saying: “I know that a lot of people may still not understand it.”

Barty stunned the tennis world when, whilst ranked world number one and just 25-years-old, she walked away from the sport.

She was the reigning Wimbledon and Australian Open champions at the time too, and she explained she felt she had achieved everything she had wanted to.

“I’ve no regrets about retiring,” Barty said. “Not one. “I knew it was the right time for me. It was what I wanted to do. And I know that a lot of people may still not understand it.

“But I hope they respect that in the sense that it was my decision. And yeah, it’s been incredible. It’s been everything that I’ve ever wanted.”

Ash Barty has since been replaced as Wimbledon champion by Elena Rybakina, who beat Ons Jabeur in an excellent final last week.

Barty, though, says it was not tough to watch it – because they didn’t.

“I didn’t watch this year’s Wimbledon finals,” she said. “Sorry to disappoint.

“Obviously I was wrapped for Ons and Elena, who are both brilliant girls. And it was obviously awesome to see Nick [Kyrgios], who I’ve known for over a dozen years, get to the final.

“But since retiring I’ve probably watched as many matches as I did when I was playing, which was slim to none.

“Occasionally we’ll have it on as background noise but it’s very seldom that I’ll sit down and watch a match from start to end with any interest.

“I hit enough tennis balls in my life. I don’t need to see others hitting them as well.”

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