“I couldn’t stop crying” – Swiatek remembers Ash Barty’s shock retirement

Iga Swiatek‘s rise to the top of the WTA rankings was an unconventional one.

Despite surging to a career-best position of No 2 in the world in March 2022, largely due to her run to the last four of the Australian Open that January, the Pole was still firmly behind the undisputed leader of the WTA pack – Ash Barty

That is, until Barty sent shockwaves rippling through the tennis world by announcing her retirement that month.
At the age of 25, Barty was the runaway world No 1, the reigning Wimbledon and Australian Open champion and possessed a unique level of quality that set her apart from rivals. It seemed unlikely that Barty’s supremacy would be challenged any time soon.

BARTY’S RETIREMENT LEFT A VOID TO BE FILLED AT THE TOP OF THE SPORT
But the then 25-year-old Queenslander would prove to be as anomalous off court as she was on it. On 23rd March 2022, Barty decided she’d had enough of the demands of tour life and bowed out of the sport as so few ever do – at the very top of her game.

“I was sobbing. I couldn’t stop crying,” is how the current world No 1, Swiatek, recalls reacting to the news of Barty’s retirement.