Women’s world number one, Ashleigh Barty, has announced her retirement from professional tennis today. 

She is 25 years old.

The three-time Grand Slam winner said she wanted to “chase other dreams” even though she is the defending champion of both the Australian Open and Wimbledon Open. 

This is the second time she is retiring from the sport.

The sudden announcement was made on an Instagram live video she was on with her longtime friend and former doubles partner, Casey Dellacqua.

“I kind of wasn’t quite sure how I was going to do this, but I think so many times in my life, both my professional and my personal, you’ve been there for me,” said Barty in the video. “And I just couldn’t think ‘there’s no right way, there’s no wrong way’. It’s just my way, and this is perfect for me to share it with you to talk to you about it with my team, my loved ones, that I’ll be retiring from tennis.”

According to her, winning the Wimbledon Open in 2021 – a feat no Australian had achieved in 20 years – was the fulfilment of her “one true dream” in tennis.

“I’ve had a lot of incredible moments in my career that have been pivotal moments,” Barty explained further. “Wimbledon last year changed a lot for me as a person and for me as an athlete when you work so hard your whole life for one goal, and I’ve been able to share that with so many incredible people. But to be able to win Wimbledon, which was my dream, my one true dream that I wanted in tennis, that really changed my perspective.”

Barty first retired from the sport in 2014 and switched to cricket in 2015 before eventually returning to the court the following year. She had also tried her hands on golf.