Ashleigh Barty: Down-to-earth star of many sporting talents

Ashleigh Barty excels at so many sports that she has played professional cricket and even won a golf tournament, but it was in tennis where she rose to become the best in the world. In January she took her place among the giants of Australian sport by winning her home Grand Slam. It was fitting that Chris O'Neil, the last home-grown player to win the Australian Open, in 1978, was in the stadium to witness Barty ending a 44-year hoodoo and thrilling a nation glued to their televisions. Less than two months later, Barty on Wednesday announced her shock retirement from tennis aged just 25. She leaves the sport having been world number one for more than two years and with three Grand Slam singles titles, having also won the French Open in 2019 and Wimbledon last year.

It is unclear what she will do next, but it would be no surprise if Barty ended up becoming a champion in another sport, because few athletes can boast such a varied sporting CV as the down-to-earth Barty. Widely respected as one of the nicest players in women's tennis, Barty began playing the sport as a child in the Queensland state capital Brisbane. But it was a trip to the Australian Open for a training camp at the age of about 12 that proved to be the spark that drove her to the summit of the sport. "To see how professional it was and to see everyone going about their business was really eye-opening. My first taste of it was in the juniors and I loved it," she said at the Australian Open in January. "That kind of lit the flame."

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World number one Ashleigh Barty's surprise retirement from tennis was met with shock and an outpouring of well wishes from current and former greats Wednesday.