Ashleigh Barty Won the Australian Open. Where Does Her Career Go From Here?
Chris Almeida: As we speak, it’s mid-morning Saturday American time. Ash Barty has become the first Australian to win a singles title Down Under in over 40 years. And the last time anybody else even really threatened was 2005 and the moment was a bit too big for Lleyton Hewitt. That feels like a lifetime ago.
Jon Wertheim: The big threat after Lleyton Hewitt and before today was, well, Ash Barty, who has been the No. 1 seed before and had entered the Australian Open as a major champion before, and she got to the latter rounds and just the moment seemed to get to her. This tournament? It didn't. For seven matches, she dropped zero sets. Her serve was broken only three times all tournament. She's the No. 1 and she played like it. And she didn't really have a tough set the entire tournament until the 14th out of 14, and she ended up coming through in a tiebreaker. So she is really unequivocally the world number one and now is one major away from a career Grand Slam.
CA: So Barty’s story is well-trodden—she took a break in her teens to play cricket after it seemed like her career wasn't really coming along the way she wanted it to, and then came back and burst onto the scene at a bit of a later age. Now I think Ash Barty is clearly the top player in the world and the force that needs to be reckoned with going into the two non-hard court majors—both of which she’s won already.
JW: She's not wired like other players. She's very difficult not to like. There's literally nothing not to like about her…There was chatter over the last few days that maybe she might retire. Maybe she says, I can't think of a better way to go…I’m newly married, and it's been fun. I know that she really has struggled with life during COVID and living away from home, she's kind of like, by her own admission, she's a homebody. And she's playing on a different timetable. And part of that means, Yeah, I'm taking a year off in the middle of my career to see how badly I really want it. Part of that timetable means going months and months and months without going back to Australia, because of COVID and some of that timetable is who knows, I mean, she could play 15 more years if she wanted to, and it also wouldn't surprise a lot of people if we were closer to the end than the beginning.
CA: I mean, in a way that's kind of refreshing, right? We're seeing athletes who are threatening to play professional sports into their 50s…Seems like it's been a while since we've seen someone in tennis hang it up before they've had to. To see somebody say: You know what, I think this was great, but there are other things I can do with myself, that's kind of cool in its own way.
JW: I think: What's your motivation now? It might be to win a career slam, but if she retired today she would be in the Hall of Fame. I don’t know, maybe the competition and the desire for self improvement is enough. Maybe she becomes one of those players that chases history. But yeah, you're right. I mean, very few champions retire early anymore. Pete Sampras sort of did his mic drop retirement, but he was in his 30s.
CA: Right, and clearly regressing in a lot of ways.
JW: Barty doesn't turn 26 until April. But I think the other question is just: I don't know how people beat her. I mean, she has so many dimensions to her game. That slice she hits is absolutely nasty. She has the best serve in women's tennis right now. And given the way she competed and dealt with pressure and expectation, the mind really reels thinking of how many more of these she could win.
CA: Another factor I feel like here is the machine, and how much it will wince at the idea of letting her go. And maybe she's an independently willed person, or has a group of people around her who don't care about squeezing every last dollar out of her career enough to make it an issue. But like, when you're this good and you're in an era of women's tennis that's been looking for the successor to Serena for a few years now, when the machine finds someone, it's going to be hesitant to say: all the marketing doesn't matter, all the opportunities to sell this, it doesn't matter. Just go ahead and have fun. I mean that's just really impressive if she really doesn't care that much… if she's willing to give up a lot of the fame, a lot of the money, a lot of the legacy-making projects that prominent athletes are investing in a lot now.
JW: I think one of the other factors that we don't often consider is: this one month notwithstanding, it's a long way from home for most of the year. I mean, even for the American players to pop over to Europe is nothing compared to traveling to Australia. And I think that's part of it, too: You can't get knocked out of the French Open, go back to Florida for two weeks, and then go back to Wimbledon. That's not really an option when your home base is in Australia.
CA: I don't think it's a coincidence that another player who has talked about hating the grind of the tour for years, saying: Yeah, I don't know if I like this so much, maybe I'll retire, is Nick Kyrgios, who, we should mention, also just won a title, in men’s doubles, at the Open. Big year for the Australians in Australia. But he's also someone who is a homebody, who likes being around his his mom, who likes goofing off, likes having more of a normal life…I hadn't really considered this being a factor in all of that before but I'm sure, the travel takes a toll even more for the Australians.
JW: Yeah, I mean, this is the drawback of being a global sport. If you’re playing a team sport, maybe you'll drive home from the Staples Center and stay in your home. And I think sometimes tennis can seem glamorous and the players are posting from Rome one week and Dubai the next, but living out of a bag sacks and I think especially after last year with all the COVID protocols I think that really took a toll.
We should also give a tip of the hat to Danielle Collins. Now she’s in the top 10, she’s the top-ranked American. She's really intense. She really likes to compete. She's kind of a jock that is wired to compete and that serves her very well.
CA: She made a run at this tournament a few years ago, and now she’s taken the next step. Hopefully she takes the big leap next time!
Read more of SI's Tennis Coverage:
• Ashleigh Barty Wins Her Third Major Title at Australian Open
• Rafael Nadal Turning the Great Debate on its Head at Australian Open
• Australian Open Officials Alter Course on Ban of Peng Shuai Protest
