No thesaurus needed: Ashleigh Barty emphatically reiterates her retirement, lauds Murray and Swiatek

Playing invitational doubles with her good friend Casey Dellacqua, Ashleigh Barty was coaxed into playing again at Wimbledon and returned to Centre Court due to withdrawals changing the schedule.

Barty though won't be returning anytime soon and emphatically responded to questioning surrounding it in hilarious fashion.

“You guys are killing me. I don't know how much more. Anyone have a thesaurus for a word that I can use for 'no'? No… Did you ask anyone else?" said Barty. "Just picking on me (laughing). No mate… no I'm not.”

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But also she paid tribute to various people with Andy Murray for instance singled out for praise during his final year as he follows her in retirement. “Andy is an amazing athlete. He’s been an inspiration and someone who’s fought so hard for equality. He’s always stood up for us and our tour. He’s an amazing person. I think it’s really special that at the tournament, he was able to celebrate and reminisce on his career.

"It’s not over yet I understand. I hope he’s able to bow out on his terms to the best of his ability. Physically I know he’s struggling. But he’s been an exceptional athlete for such a long time now. It’s gonna be a sad day when he’s no longer playing week in and week out. A lot of people will miss him and I’ll certainly be one of them. I always enjoyed watching him play, his creativity on the court, his tenacity, the way he would fight. Then off the court he was kind of a gentle, witty, very funny guy. I always really enjoyed spending time with him.”

But also she was asked whether she thinks about how it could've been with Iga Swiatek if she would've stayed. It doesn't preoccupy her mind though and she says she barely keeps up with it.

“No, no it doesn’t. I’ve had such a fulfilling journey and I really enjoy watching others doing well. Obviously we’ve seen Iga dominate, for the most part, of the last two and a half years. She’s been incredible. The way she’s had composure and has gone on incredible runs of winning matches and really dominating which is hard to do. It takes discipline. It takes hard work. It takes talent. It takes the ability to put it all together. It’s been really impressive watching from afar. I don’t know the ins and outs. I haven’t been following that closely. But I just know she’s always there when it matters most in the big moments, which has been really impressive.”

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