‘We Were Trying to Smile Instead of Cry Through Tough Times’- Ashleigh Barty Reminisces About Her Ups and Downs

Former world no. 1 Ashleigh Barty will always be remembered for her tennis as well as humility. The player retired from tennis last month. Following that, she also took down her name from the WTA ranking chart. The player won her last grand slam in her home country by winning the Australian Open 2022. Throughout her journey to the top -from the time she was young, till the time she retired from tennis- she had people who assisted her in every single step. These were the ones whom we did not see on the court but equally affected  the former world no. 1; Barty’s Team.

Ashleigh Barty credits her team

Tennis can be categorized as an individual sport, but behind the scene, the sport is known mostly by the players themselves. It is not just the player and the coach but the entire team that assists the player in his/her own feat. Tennis Australia on Instagram uploaded a video of Ashleigh Barty. Former world no. 1 credited her teammates and took a trip down memory lane. The nostalgia hit Ashleigh Barty when she had been flicking through some of the old photos of her career. She said, “Not one of the photos I stopped on was of me playing. Not one of the photos was just of me. It was always with the people that I was surrounded by. My team.” 

The 25-year-old player has made her name in the tennis world. Her dedication and passion for the sport are evident from the fact that she has held the ranking of World No.1 for a record of 121 weeks. Now Iga Swiatek has become the new world no. 1. She reminisced about the moments with her team and said, “the funny little memories that we had, the times when we were trying to smile instead of cry through really tough times”. 

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Once a team, always a team

Barty credited all of them for being a team in which everyone brought out the best in each other. She said, “Those are the things that I’m going to miss the most. My team are my family.” She conveyed the message that she would continue to see them in Australia. She reiterated her retirement indirectly by saying, “It just might be as a spectator as opposed to us being, ‘the man in the arena’.”

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Ashleigh has been known for her passion and hard work when she is played tennis on the court. She has been a part of the top 10 of the doubles list with a career-high ranking of 5. In addition to that, Barty has three Grand Slam titles under her name and in totality 15 singles and 12 doubles titles. Barty has now been enjoying golf and it would not come as a shock to anyone if she tops that as well.