All praise to Ash Barty for refusing to chase trophies at all costs – it’s time the whole sports world caught on
Shock news! The No 1 tennis player in the world has announced that there is more to her life than the number of times she wins a tennis championship. The collective state of astonishment at Ash Barty’s retirement at the age of 25 says as much about how we see athletes as it does about this extraordinary woman. How have we reached a point where it is surprising for a top athlete to have a healthy mindset? Where it stuns us that someone who has won at the highest level isn’t desperate to do it again as many times as possible? Where we ask why she is somehow unfairly depriving herself – and us – of something she owes us, as though she hasn’t yet served her time?
