Five tennis stars who, like Ashleigh Barty, retired far too early
- Michael Graham
- 23 March 2022
The WTA world number one Ashleigh Barty has decided to call time on her career, but she is far from the first big-name tennis star to walk away from the game early.
Ashleigh Barty surprised the tennis world when she announced her retirement this week, with the reigning Wimbledon and Australian Open champion walking away from the sport aged just 25.
However, given the illustrious names who have retired early, maybe we shouldn't be that shocked after all.
Kim Clijsters
By the time she was just 23, Clijsters had topped the WTA world rankings and won the US Open. Sadly, she had also been beset by injuries.
Fortunately for tennis, after two years in retirement, Clijsters was able to return to the game. Not only that, but she was able to pick up where she left off.
In 2009, the Belgian became the first unseeded women to win the US Open - four years after her initial triumph - and she added two more Grand Slam titles before retiring again in 2012, aged just 29.
Justine Henin
Early retirements of brilliant Belgian tennis players was seemingly in fashion in the 2000s, with Justine Henin also walking away from the game.
Henin's retirement was eerily similar to that of Barty. She was 25 years old, had established total dominance of the women's game, was the long-time world number one, and no one saw it coming.
"I am leaving as the world No.1 and that is important as it is always better to go out at the top," she said. "I leave without any regrets and I know it is the right decision."
Henin did make a brief comeback 16 months later, but never reached the same heights again and retired for a second time in 2011.
Martina Hingis
Hingis was the youngest Grand Slam champion of all time at 15 when she teamed with Helena Sukova to win the Wimbledon doubles.
A year later, she won three of the four Grand Slam singles and was beaten in the final of the other, the French Open.
She picked up singles Grand Slam titles in each of the next two years too, meaning she won all five of her Grand Slams as teenager.
However, her success didn't stop there, and ultimately that may have been what cost her. While most players who reach a certain level focus on singles competition, Hingis was a prolific doubles player too.
Sadly, playing that much tennis took its toll, and by the age of just 22 Hingis retired, admitting she felt too much physical pain while playing due to a series of injuries.
Hingis returned to tennis on a part-time basis and was still winning doubles titles as recently as 2017, but burnout definitely denied her the chance to become the all-round great her talent deserved.
Bjorn Borg
He also contributed to one of the greatest rivalries in sporting history, with his 'fire and ice' battles with John McEnroe some of the most brilliant contests imaginable.
In 1983, though, aged just 26, Borg sensationally walked away from the sport.
The Swede appeared to have simply fallen out of love with the game, telling the New York Times while announcing his retirement: "When you go out on the court, you should say this is great, I'm going to hit the tennis ball, I'm going to try to win every point, and I like to make a good shot.
Like everyone else who retires from tennis early, Borg did attempt a comeback. It was eight years later, when he was in his mid-30s and struggling a little financially.
He entered the 1991 Monte Carlo Masters, turned up with his wooden tennis racket, got a Welsh karate expert as his coach and was well-beaten.
Andy Roddick
The US had produced the likes of Arthur Ashe, Jimmy Connors, Pete Sampras, Jim Courier and Andre Agassi and that torch had been passed to Roddick at the turn of the century.
Roddick reached world number one and won a major, the 2003 US Open, but in truth the game had changed around him. The balls and courts were tampered with to hold back the big servers - Roddick's primary weapon - and as a result he was never the dominant force he could have been without the alterations.
Three years later, though, on his 30th birthday, Roddick announced his imminent retirement. Thirty may not sound especially young, but it's worth remembering that Roddick is a year younger than Federer, who was still winning Grand Slams at the age of 37.
