A few hours after Elena Rybakina lifted the famous Wimbledon trophy on Centre Court, an intriguing wager was placed at another cathedral of British sport, 800 kilometres away. It involved two greats in their respective fields, Kevin Pietersen and Ash Barty, and a friendly disagreement over whether the former world number one might yet be enticed back to tennis following her shock retirement in March. The former England cricket captain was adamant it would eventually happen. Barty was equally adamant there was no chance. And so on Saturday evening at St Andrews, a £20 bet was struck between the pair.
But if the experience of watching Barty down the years has taught us anything, it is that the straightest shooter in sport says what she means and rarely loses – whatever the stakes. And, in her first major interview since quitting tennis at the height of her powers aged 25, the sport’s former first lady makes it clear she is not for turning. Not when she is having the time of her life travelling the world, playing golf and steadily ticking items off her bucket list.
“I’ve no regrets about retiring,” she says. “Not one. I knew it was the right time for me. It was what I wanted to do. And I know that a lot of people may still not understand it. But I hope they respect that in the sense that it was my decision. And yeah, it’s been incredible. It’s been everything that I’ve ever wanted.”
Her zest for her new life path was evident in her choices last weekend. Instead of watching the Wimbledon women’s and men’s singles finals she honed her golf game before playing the Old Course at St Andrews as part of a celebrity invitation event to mark the 150th Open, that gets under way on Thursday. Why cling to the past when the future offers such boundless opportunities?
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“I didn’t watch this year’s Wimbledon finals,” she says. “Sorry to disappoint. Obviously I was rapt for Ons and Elena, who are both brilliant girls. And it was obviously awesome to see Nick, who I’ve known for over a dozen years, get to the final.
“But since retiring I’ve probably watched as many matches as I did when I was playing, which was slim to none. Occasionally we’ll have it on as background noise but it’s very seldom that I’ll sit down and watch a match from start to end with any interest. I hit enough tennis balls in my life. I don’t need to see others hitting them as well.”
When photographs of her playing at St Andrews went viral on Sunday, the more excitable of the internet went into overdrive, with some people even speculating that Barty – who has a handicap of four – might consider a career in a third professional sport, after tennis and cricket. That, she makes clear, is not going to happen.
“Golf is a hobby and it always will be,” she says. “I know what it takes to get to the very top of any sport, and I don’t have the desire or want to do the work required. And to be honest, I play golf for a good time and to have a good walk with people who I love. If I shoot a 70 or shoot a 100 it doesn’t matter to me.”
But what about reports that she has already won a local tournament in Brisbane since hanging up her racket? She starts to laugh. “The internet has gone wild on that one. It was just a Saturday comp at home. I play it every week. I don’t win every week and when I do it’s a rarity. It’s just a very laidback event with my girlfriends and my mum!”
Yet her love of the game is obvious as she relays what it was like to stand on the first tee at St Andrews in hushed tones. “It was a real pinch yourself moment to play at the home of golf under championship conditions. I made some good pars, hit some good drives, and also hit a few wild shots that went to areas of the golf course that you’ve probably never seen on TV before. It was just an amazing experience.”
A particular highlight was saving par on the opening hole after flirting with the famed Swilcan Burn that guards the first green. “I hit an awful second shot – a bit of a skull with an eight iron – and it went into the little burn and popped back out again. And I managed to chip up and saved par. So I had a little bit of luck along the way but I finished about six over, so it wasn’t too bad.”
She also spent time watching Tiger Woods and Justin Thomas practise, absorbing how other legends apply a final coating of gloss to their preparations. “It is incredible to see those guys doing their thing,” she says. “I love to see how other professional athletes prepare and practise, how they understand their game and their areas that they work on.”
Did you grab a quick word? “No, no, no,” she replies quickly. “I stayed out of the way to give them the space they need, knowing that it’s leading up to a big event.”
It is the nature of professional sport that it moves on, even when someone as compelling and popular as Barty retires. But her decision to walk away, having added the 2022 Australian Open to her 2021 Wimbledon and 2019 French Open titles, was a mic drop that still leaves a deep reverb.
Such was Barty’s dominance of the women’s game at the time, she had been ranked the number one WTA player for 114 consecutive weeks – a run bettered only by Steffi Graf, Serena Williams and Martina Navratilova. But it was her relatability that helped her to strike an even deeper chord with the wider public. That, Barty says, has not changed even as she has slipped into joyous anonymity. “I like to think that I am approachable. I’m just a regular person that people can come up and say ‘G’day’ to and chat to.”
So is there anything she misses in tennis? “I definitely miss seeing my mates. We spent so much time together and all of a sudden I’m living in a different corner of the globe. But retirement has been a really seamless transition. Instead of spending a few hours on the practice court every day I just get into different routines. And because I knew it was coming for quite a while, there wasn’t much of an adjustment.”
However, she insists that the future of tennis remains in good hands, especially with the world No 1, Iga Swiatek, leading a new generation of young stars that includes Britain’s Emma Raducanu and now Rybakina. “Iga is an incredible talent, an exceptional human and a lovely girl,” Barty says. “I love her and her team, and I couldn’t be more proud that she took over the No 1 position, because she plays the sport in the right way and has so much energy and charisma.
“But the depth in women’s tennis at the moment is great too. We’ve come from having one or two players dominating to there being more unpredictability. And that’s not because the tour is weak. In fact, it’s because the tour is so strong. Everyone in that top 40 to 50 bracket is so exceptionally good that week to week they could all be top‑10 players.”
For the last few months Barty has been working on a series of illustrated children’s books, Little Ash, about school, sport, friendship and family; as well as a memoir, My Dream Time: A Memoir of Tennis and Teamwork. She has also played golf with Michael Phelps in New Jersey and plans to take in many other sporting events in the coming months – starting with the Open.
“I am having the opportunity to live out childhood dreams and I couldn’t be more grateful,” she says. “I am just trying to roll with it and enjoy it.”
It sounds as if Pietersen is a massive odds-on shot to lose that retirement bet, I say. “The wager was very friendly and very soft,” she says, laughing. “I’ll make sure KP and I have some more time on the golf course. And maybe instead of putting a little £20 on my tennis career, we’ll put it on that instead.” – Guardian
