{"id":298450,"date":"2023-11-26T16:54:29","date_gmt":"2023-11-26T16:54:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sports-life-news.com\/?p=298450"},"modified":"2023-11-26T16:54:29","modified_gmt":"2023-11-26T16:54:29","slug":"iga-swiatek-explains-why-ashleigh-bartys-sudden-retirement-hit-hard","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sports-life-news.com\/tennis\/iga-swiatek-explains-why-ashleigh-bartys-sudden-retirement-hit-hard\/","title":{"rendered":"Iga Swiatek explains why Ashleigh Barty’s sudden retirement ‘hit hard’"},"content":{"rendered":"

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World No.1 Iga Swiatek has explained how she was impacted by Ashleigh Barty’s retirement back in 2022. Barty confirmed in March last year that she would be calling time on her professional tennis career.<\/p>\n

Barty stunned the tennis world by announcing her retirement at just 25 years of age. The Australian posted a video on Instagram when she announced the news, with the video featuring herself and her former double’s partner, Casey Dellacqua.<\/p>\n

The world No.1 spot was held by Barty when she announced her retirement with the decision coming less than two months after Barty won the Australian Open in Melbourne.<\/p>\n

The victory at her home grand slam was Barty’s third major title of her career, having previously won the French Open and Wimbledon. Following Barty’s retirement, Swiatek took the spot as the best player on the WTA Tour.<\/p>\n

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Now Swiatek, who herself has won four grand slam titles, has spoken about how she was affected by the news of Barty’s retirement last year. The reigning French Open winner admitted the announcement led to her questioning what may happen with her career in the future.<\/p>\n

“I didn’t fully understand what had happened,” Swiatek told SportoweFakty. “Ash was the undisputed leader, she played the best tennis – even though I knew where she would hit, it was still difficult to cope with her shot.<\/p>\n

“At first, her departure was an abstraction to me. I felt it as a great loss for the sport. I have great respect for her. Besides, I had an idea what the end of her career would mean for me. I was No.1 for just a few days, and suddenly there was an opportunity to move to the top of the rankings.<\/p>\n

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