"I hit enough tennis balls in my life" - Barty admits to not watching Wimbledon finals, has no plans to return to tennis
WTA
Ashleigh Barty has revealed she didn’t watch any of the Wimbledon finals, stating she’s “hit enough tennis balls” in her life.
Barty shocked the tennis world by retiring two months after winning the Australian Open singles title in Melbourne. The former world No.1 was the defending women’s Wimbledon champion but decided to steer clear of the final between Ons Jabeur and Elena Rybakina which was won by the Kazakhstani.
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“I didn’t watch this year’s Wimbledon finals,” Barty told The Guardian. “Sorry to disappoint. Obviously I was rapt 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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Furthermore, the 26-year old insisted she has no thoughts about making a return to the sport.
“I’ve no regrets about retiring,” said Barty. “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.”
“I definitely miss seeing my mates. We spent so much time together and all of a sudden I’m living in a different corner of the globe. But retirement has been a really seamless transition.
“Instead of spending a few hours on the practice court every day I just get into different routines. And because I knew it was coming for quite a while, there wasn’t much of an adjustment."
Growing up in a household where soccer was king, my earliest memories are filled with chants from packed stadiums and the rhythm of a ball being passed across neighborhood streets. But somewhere along the way, the quiet elegance and raw emotion of tennis pulled me in. What began as a curiosity became a lifelong passion; not just for the sport itself, but for the stories it tells: of grit, of heartbreak, of improbable comebacks and human resilience.
As a tennis writer, I bring the observational lens of someone who didn’t grow up in the sport, but fell in love with it as an outsider; a perspective that lets me see both its technical beauty and its emotional depth. Over the years working with TennisUpToDate, I’ve had the privilege of reaching more than 3.5 million readers worldwide, with one of my features ranking among the site’s top three articles.
With a background in storytelling and a creative mind always searching for meaning beyond the scoreboard, I aim to craft narratives that go deeper than results and rankings. Whether it’s a rising star breaking through or a veteran fighting off Father Time, I try to capture the heartbeat behind the headlines.
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