Australian Open Champion Ash Barty Drops Bombshell Announcement of Break From Tennis
12:29 GMT 04.03.2022 (Updated: 11:44 GMT 10.12.2022)
© AP Photo / Andy Brownbill
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There was a time in tennis, when players competed in one tournament after another to gain valuable ranking points and move up the ladder on the WTA and ATP charts. But things have changed since the pandemic. Last year Naomi Osaka stunned the world as she took a break from the sport citing mental health issues; this year Ash Barty has done the same.
On Friday, World No 1 Ashleigh Barty made a shock announcement that she would be taking a break from tennis.
Revealing that she has yet to recover from the Australian Open in January, the 25-year-old tennis star declared she won't compete in the forthcoming tournaments in California's Indian Wells and Miami in Florida.
The Indian Wells Masters and Miami Open are widely regarded as the biggest competitions outside the Grand Slams (the Australian Open, French Open, Wimbledon and US Open), and top players are not known to skip them unless they have a major health issue or are engaged with a personal assignment.
Revealing that she has yet to recover from the Australian Open in January, the 25-year-old tennis star declared she won't compete in the forthcoming tournaments in California's Indian Wells and Miami in Florida.
The Indian Wells Masters and Miami Open are widely regarded as the biggest competitions outside the Grand Slams (the Australian Open, French Open, Wimbledon and US Open), and top players are not known to skip them unless they have a major health issue or are engaged with a personal assignment.
"Unfortunately my body has not recovered the way I'd hoped after the Australian Open and I have not been able to adequately prepare for Indian Wells and Miami," Barty said in a statement on Friday.
"I don't believe I am at the level necessary to win these events and as a result I have decided to withdraw from both tournaments. I love these events and am sad not to be there competing but getting my body right must be my focus," the player from Ipswich, Queensland, added.
Barty started 2022 with a bang, making waves in Melbourne as she became the first Australian woman to capture the Australian Open - also known as the Grand Slam of the Asia Pacific - since her countrywoman Chris O'Neil accomplished the feat in 1978.
Barty has been absent from the court since.
Barty has been absent from the court since.
