Ashleigh Barty's Historic Australian Open Crown – Then Shocking Retirement at the Peak
In 2022, Ashleigh Barty reigns supreme over women's tennis. As world No. 1, she achieves the feat of winning the Australian Open in front of her home crowd, for the first and ultimately only time in her career. A triumph marked as much by the mastery of her run as by what it foreshadowed.
Just weeks after her home victory, Barty stuns the sports world by announcing her retirement, ending a brilliant but undoubtedly too-short career.
A look back at a historic achievement and the true earthquake it triggered in women's tennis.
A LONG-AWAITED AND HISTORIC CROWN
Orphaned of great champions since the 1970s, Australian tennis finds in Ashleigh Barty a figure capable of reigniting the national flame.
Born in 1996 in Ipswich, the future world No. 1 follows an atypical path. Brilliant as a junior, she initially struggles to confirm on the WTA Tour and steps away from professional tennis at just 18. Two years later, her return marks the true starting point of an extraordinary career.
Gradually, Barty establishes herself among the elite without being seen as a favorite for the biggest titles. 2019 marks the turning point: quarterfinalist at the Australian Open, she wins Miami and enters the top 10.
At the French Open, on a surface seemingly unfavorable to her, she pulls off the upset by winning her first Grand Slam. An unexpected triumph that propels her to No. 2 in the rankings, before becoming, two weeks later, the first Australian world No. 1 since Evonne Goolagong in 1976.
She then confirms her status by winning other major titles, including the WTA Finals in 2019 and a second Grand Slam at Wimbledon (2021).
Logically, in 2022, after three straight seasons ending at the top of the rankings, Ashleigh Barty enters the Australian Open as the clear favorite.
More than a champion, Barty embodies a reassuring and respected figure, reflective of an Australian tennis culture attached to simplicity and authenticity.
Ending a Long Australian Drought
The pressure matches the stakes. While the last Australian man to win in Melbourne remains Mark Edmondson in 1975, the women's side is hardly brighter. In 2022, it's been 44 years since Chris O'Neil's title in 1978 that an Australian woman has won the Australian Open.
Aware of this expectation, Ashleigh Barty tries to brush off the pressure:
"I know what it means to end this wait. I can't do anything more than what I'm already doing: try. I just hope everyone understands that I'm giving it everything.
It doesn't always go as planned, but we do everything to make it possible. That's true for all the Australians in the draw: they keep trying."
Behind this calm and composed speech, the Australian arrives in top form. One week before the tournament starts, she wins in Adelaide, dominating Iga Świątek and Elena Rybakina among others. Ideal momentum to confirm her status as title contender.
A MASTERCLASS TWO WEEKS FROM START TO FINISH
Despite her status as top favorite, Ashleigh Barty approaches the event cautiously, aware of the stacked field.
Aryna Sabalenka is on the rise, Garbiñe Muguruza is fresh off a WTA Finals title a few months earlier, while Świątek, Rybakina, Gauff, Halep, and Badosa all emerge as serious contenders.
The draw doesn't spare her. The world No. 1 lands in Naomi Osaka's section – the defending champion but out of the top 10 – with a potential quarterfinal against Maria Sakkari, then world No. 5 and US Open semifinalist. A paper trail full of pitfalls.
On court, however, Barty sweeps away all doubts. With a complete and versatile game honed over the seasons, the Australian dominates the competition from start to finish and dictates the pace throughout the tournament.
Just 21 Games Dropped in Six Matches
From the early rounds, Barty gives no respite to her opponents. She crushes Lesia Tsurenko (6-0, 6-1), then Lucia Bronzetti (6-1, 6-1), before taming Camila Giorgi's power (6-2, 6-3) to reach the second week.
If her level is impeccable, the draw also opens up. Naomi Osaka, Barbora Krejčíková, and Maria Sakkari – her main rivals in her quarter – are eliminated before the quarterfinals.
Serene and ruthless, the Ipswich native continues her march: Amanda Anisimova in the round of 16 (6-4, 6-3), Jessica Pegula in quarters (6-2, 6-0), and Madison Keys in the semifinals (6-1, 6-3).
With only 21 games dropped before the final, Barty delivers one of the most dominant runs of the 21st century, achieving the fourth-lowest total in Grand Slam history behind Venus Williams and Serena Williams.
"It's Going to Be an Incredible Experience, I Can't Wait to Enjoy It"
Ruthless throughout the tournament, Ashleigh Barty arrives in the final with a unique chance to claim the title against the tournament's surprise, Danielle Collins.
The American has also capitalized on an open draw, knocking out Alizé Cornet in quarters before stunning Iga Świątek in the semifinals.
On paper, the final looks competitive. Leading 3-1 in their head-to-head, Barty remains wary of an opponent with a fiery temperament:
"She attacks the ball in an exceptional way. The way she can control rallies from the baseline and take charge makes her one of the fiercest competitors on tour. It's going to be a challenge to neutralize her game."
Before the event, the Australian didn't hide the emotion of the stakes: "This is what every Australian player dreams of. It's going to be an incredible experience, I can't wait to be there and enjoy it."
A sentiment shared by Danielle Collins, fully aware of the context: "Playing the world No. 1 in her country will be incredible. The crowd's energy will be amazing, whether it's against me or for me."
Strong Resistance to Pressure
The final starts ideally for Ashleigh Barty, who takes the first set 6-3 with little resistance. But the script gets tricky in the second, giving the Australian crowd some anxious moments.
At 1-1, the world No. 1 hits a rough patch that Danielle Collins exploits fully. The American reels off games, racing to 5-1 and coming close to becoming the first player in the tournament to take a set off Barty.
But under pressure, Collins tightens up. Barty regains her clarity. More solid on serve, sharper in rallies, she uses her backhand slice to shift the momentum and force a tiebreak.
In the tiebreak, the Australian doesn't falter. She wins the first four points, then closes it out 7-2 with a superb forehand passing shot. Fist pumped, liberating roar: the emotion matches the weight carried since the tournament's start.
Winning 6-3, 7-6(2), Barty ends 44 years of waiting for Australian women's tennis. She claims her third Grand Slam title, with a perfect 3-0 record in finals – a coronation that seems to herald a reign set to last.
"I'm Still Learning, Trying to Fine-Tune My Game"
Usually reserved and measured on court, Ashleigh Barty admits the stakes' intensity provoked an unusual reaction after match point:
"It was a bit surreal. I think I didn't know what to do or feel, and it was good to let some emotion out – which is a bit unusual for me – and celebrate with everyone in the crowd. The energy was incredible."
Beyond the emotion, the Australian etches her name in history. She becomes the 10th player to win a Grand Slam without dropping a set, and the fourth active player at the time to win a Major on all three surfaces.
True to form, Barty refuses to see herself as a finished product and emphasizes her room for improvement:
"I'm still learning and trying to fine-tune my game, working every day to get better. It's incredible to experience all this and have the opportunity to be consistent on three different surfaces. I feel very lucky and privileged."
"A Complete Player and an Inspiration"
Already one of Australia's most beloved sports figures, Ashleigh Barty's historic Melbourne triumph elevates her definitively to national heroine status.
Tributes pour in. Tennis legend Rod Laver hails a "complete player" and a "magical moment" for Australia, while singer Kylie Minogue, a final spectator, calls Barty "an inspiration."
Many tour players, including Victoria Azarenka, Simona Halep, Angelique Kerber, and Petra Kvitová, also congratulate the world No. 1 on her home triumph.
But once the celebrations end, Barty shocks the tennis world less than two months later with an announcement no one saw coming.
After this title that cemented her place in Australian and women's tennis history, Ashleigh Barty takes a long break to return to the tour fully fit, physically and mentally.
However, the world No. 1 surprises by announcing on March 4 – after missing all of February – her withdrawal from Indian Wells, then Miami.
Skipping the famed Sunshine Double raises eyebrows, though Barty cites a precautionary decision: "My body hasn't recovered as much as I'd hoped after the Australian Open. I don't think I have the level to win those tournaments, so I chose to withdraw."
"I'm Physically and Emotionally Exhausted"
Nineteen days later, the axe falls. While many expect the world No. 1's return on clay, Ashleigh Barty ends all speculation: she's done. At just 25, her career is over.
This sudden and early retirement, reminiscent of Björn Borg's, is confirmed in an interview alongside compatriot Casey Dellacqua:
"I'm retiring from tennis. I'm so happy and so ready. In my heart, as a person, I know it's the right thing. I no longer have the physical drive, the emotional will, and everything it takes to push at the highest level. I'm exhausted. I have nothing left to give physically."
First-Time Mother in 2023
A well-considered decision, contemplated since her Wimbledon triumph, that makes her Australian Open title feel like the perfect close to a fully accomplished career chapter.
Retiring at the top, Ashleigh Barty joins the great figures of modern women's tennis. Though she's made some media appearances since, she consistently states her sports page is definitively closed.
"I don't regret it at all," she said in January 2026. "I've always been a homebody, I love being at home." Since retiring, Barty has built a life away from the courts, starting a family with the birth of her son Jordan in July 2023, then daughter Hayden in June 2025.
In hindsight, this Australian Open title is far more than a major victory. By leaving the tour at her peak, Ashleigh Barty gives it a special dimension, prompting an obvious question: wasn't it simply the title of a lifetime?While everything seemed to destine her for a career of dizzying stats, Ashleigh Barty made the rare choice to stop at the top, after a highly symbolic and historic Australian Open triumph.
Loved in her country and focused on other aspirations away from the courts, the Australian never chased records, despite a path promising legendary status.
A deliberate decision that freezes her image at the summit as an accomplished champion, rather than risking a prolonged career where her level and motivation might one day fade.
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