Ashleigh Barty is not returning to tennis, but she did venture out on a tennis court for some tennis, which was captured on video.
Very few tennis players had the exit Ashleigh Barty had as the Australian retired days after winning her home slam at the Australian Open. Quitting is never easy, but doing it when you're at your peak as the number one player in the world is pretty good.
For Barty, the choice was a natural one and not that hard. She struggled to be away from home and family for a while and was tired of the tennis lifestyle. Winning Wimbledon was a huge turning point for her because it was a longtime dream; it was the thing she wanted most out of her tennis career, and after finally getting it, thoughts about retiring came back.
She ultimately pulled the trigger and seemed happy, which is the most important thing. Lots of things happened in the meantime: she became a mother, she worked on so many things, but tennis is still part of her life.
She never turned her back on the sport, even though she doesn't plan on making a comeback. The former world number one was recently spotted hitting balls with future tennis stars on a tennis court. She posted a video of herself with some kids, captioning the photo hilariously, suggesting that she's back to the basics.
"Back to red ball. Coaches seemed happy enough. Spectator just enjoyed a snooze in the shade."
While it was certainly a throwback moment to see Barty back on a tennis court, tennis fans know better than to read too much into this. Only recently did she reaffirm her commitment to staying retired, but she would never say goodbye to the sport entirely.
She always talked about staying in the sport in some capacity and some coaching seems to be it.
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