Ashleigh Barty has no regrets about tennis retirement ahead of 2023 Australian Open as she enjoys ‘comfortable’ life

Ashleigh Barty retired from tennis as world No. 1 back in March, and nine months later has insisted she has no regrets about her decision.

Barty retired aged 25 as Wimbledon and Australian Open champion, the first Australian in 44 years to win the latter, to “chase other dreams”, and has since enjoyed life away from tennis.

Barty will return to the season-opening Grand Slam in Australia in January, but not to defend her title.

“To be honest, I think what has surprised me most is how comfortable I’ve been,” Barty told New York Times.

“I think there was probably a normal fear or uncertainty in not knowing what my life would look like after tennis after being so focused.

“I was a bit unsure how I would deal with that because I am a person who likes to be organised. There was probably a little bit of fear in that, but overall, that hasn’t been an issue, a concern or a worry.

“What’s been most surprising in a good way is that I’ve slipped quite seamlessly into this life that’s just like everyone else, which is kind of always what I wanted.

“The more time I’ve had to sit and think and absorb this year, I think it is never in the sense of me competing professionally again. But I’ll never not be involved in the sport. So I think that’s where I’ll always get my tennis fix, that taste of the sport that gave me so much.”

Barty led the singles rankings when she called time on her career, but after her retirement Iga Swiatek went on to dominate the 2022 season.

Asked whether it would have been different if she had stuck around, Barty said her ranking status was never at the forefront of her mind.

“It was a bit of a strange one, I suppose,” Barty said. “But I think that was probably what was least important to me: where I was sitting in the rankings.

“That was hard for a lot of people to understand.

“I achieved my dreams. Everyone has different dreams and different ways of defining success.

“But for me, I knew that I gave everything I could, and I was fortunate to live out my ultimate childhood dream, and now it was time for me to explore what else was out there and not be, I suppose, greedy in a sense of keep playing tennis because that’s what I was expected to do, and then you blink and maybe the other things have passed you by.”

The 2023 Australian Open starts on January 16.

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