Ash Barty dropped a bombshell on the tennis world on Wednesday, the 25-year-old announcing her retirement at the peak of her game and just two months after claiming a third Grand Slam title at the Australian Open.
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Citing the fulfillment of her tennis goals and fatigue with life on the Tour, the world number one walks away with 15 titles to her name, the last coming at Melbourne Park where she ended Australia's 44-year wait for a home champion.
"I know how much work it takes to bring the best out of yourself ... I don't have that in me anymore," she said in a video posted on her Instagram account on Wednesday.
"I don't have the physical drive, the emotional want and everything it takes to challenge yourself at the very top level anymore. I am spent."
It marks Barty's second retirement from the sport, having walked away from the game as a teenager in late-2014 after becoming disaffected by the Tour.
