Ash Barty retires from tennis at age 25; won 3 Grand Slams

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Ash Barty surprisingly retired from tennis at age 25 while ranked No. 1 and less than two months after winning the Australian Open for her third Grand Slam singles title.

"I’m so happy and I’m so ready. I just know at the moment, in my heart, for me as a person, this is right," Barty said, her voice shaky at times, during a six-minute video posted on her Instagram account Wednesday in Australia.

Saying it was time to "chase other dreams," Barty said she no longer feels compelled to do what she knows is required to be the best she can be at tennis.

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Ash Barty of Australia celebrates after defeating Danielle Collins of the U.S., in the women's singles final at the Australian Open tennis championships in Melbourne, Australia on Jan. 29, 2022. (AP Photo/Hamish Blair, File)

Barty announced her engagement to trainee golf professional Garry Kissick in November, leading up to the Australian Open. The pair had been dating since 2016.

"It’s the first time I’ve actually said it out loud and, yeah, it’s hard to say," Barty said of her decision to retire, which she announced during an informal interview with her former doubles partner, Casey Dellacqua. "I don’t have the physical drive, the emotional want and everything it takes to challenge yourself at the very top of the level any more. I am spent."

This is not the first time Barty walked away from tennis: She was the Wimbledon junior champion at age 15 in 2011, presaging a promising professional career, but left the tour entirely for nearly two years in 2014 because of burnout, overwhelmed by the pressure and travel required.

She played professional