Ash Barty has announced her retirement from professional tennis.
Following her recent success at both Wimbledon and Australian Open, the 25-year-old will put the racquets down and focus on other goals.
Barty announced the news via social media on Wednesday, sending shockwaves through the tennis world in Australia and abroad.
"Today is difficult and filled with emotion for me as I announce my retirement from tennis," Barty said via Instagram.
"I wasn’t sure how to share this news with you so I asked my good friend Casey Dellacqua to help me.
"I am so thankful for everything this sport has given me and leave feeling proud and fulfilled.
"Thank you to everyone who has supported me along the way, I’ll always be grateful for the lifelong memories that we created together.
“There’s no right way or wrong way – just my way. It’s the first time I’ve actually said it out loud and it’s hard to say.
"I’m so happy and so ready – I know at the moment in my heart for me as a person, this is right.
"I know I’ve done this before, but a very different feeling. I’m so grateful to everything that tennis has given me – it has given me all of my dreams plus more.
"I know that the time is right now for me to step away and chase other dreams.
"More to come tomorrow at my press conference."
Watch the full announcement from Barty below.
Barty leaves the sport with three Grand Slam titles.
Barty revealed the internal thoughts had been there since winning Wimbledon, and believes that going out with a title in her home country is the perfect way to finish.
“It’s something I have been thinking about for a long time," she said.
"I’ve had a lot of incredible moments in my career – Wimbledon last year changed a lot for me as a person and me as an athlete.
"To be able to win Wimbledon, which was my dream and the one true dream, that really changed my perspective.
"I’ve had that gut feeling after Wimbledon and have spoken to my team quite a lot about it – there was just a little part of me that wasn’t quite satisfied and wasn’t quite fulfilled.
"Then came the challenge of the Australian Open, and I think that for me feels like the most perfect way, my perfect way, to celebrate what an amazing journey my tennis career has been.
"I want to chase after some other dreams that I’ve always wanted to do."
With a potential career in cricket left behind to focus on tennis many years ago, it would appear that Barty may be headed back to her other passion after achieving such great success on the court.
