The world is still reeling from world No. 1 at Ash Barty 's retirement news. The Australian announced on March 23 that she would retire from tennis at the age of 25. Barty is a three-time Grand Slam champion and won the Australian Open just two months ago. She was the best player among the current one-mile lot and was just one US Open title away from completing her career slam.
Many compare Barty's early retirement to that of Serena Williams and Roger Federer. Both Serena and Federer are in their 40s and still haven't retired. They are currently considering another midlife comeback.
After Barty retired, Serena was naturally asked when she would be hanging up her boots. The 23-time Grand Slam champion said every player thinks of retirement 5 years after playing tennis given the intensity of the sport. She said she doesn't know when she will retire and is currently living for the day.
“I think every tennis player thinks of the R word [retirement] as soon as they hit five years old because tennis is so intense, it's literally 11 months out of the year. But I do not know. I live for the day and I always tell people, 'I don't plan for tomorrow, only in business, and when it comes to tennis, I just plan for today'” Serena said.
Serena Williams on the Naomi Osaka heckling incident
At Indian property four-time Grand Slam champion Naomi Osaka was heckled by the crowd last week, after which she was in tears. Serena, who faced the same thing herself 2 decades ago, addressed the issue. Serena was heckled by the California crowd in 2001 and boycotted the tournament for 14 years until her return in 2015.
“It was my whole life, trying to prove to people that I was better than that [their meanness],” she says. “And that's what I'm doing now in a different way. I love proving that athletes can shoot and have amazing careers.