The Top 5 WTA Players of 2022: No. 5, Ash Barty

LOOKING BACK: When Ash Barty announced her shock retirement

Memorable Moment: In Australian Open final, against Danielle Collins, Barty rallied from 5-1 down in the second set to close out the match, 6-3, 7-6 (2)—becoming the first Australian woman to win a home Slam since 1978.

Missed Opportunity: The rest of the 2022 tennis season.

2023 Projection: An impressive performance in another sport, perhaps golf.

A good lens from which to view the hope, glory and exit of Ashleigh Barty from tennis can be found in the longstanding holiday cult film, A Christmas Story. As a beautiful Christmas afternoon turns into evening, the happy Parker family eagerly anticipates the chance to dig into its holiday turkey. The bird has been cooking for hours. Now glistening, it sits in wait, soon to be devoured.

Suddenly, a neighbor’s dogs barge into the Parker kitchen. The turkey is knocked to the ground, where it is comprehensively consumed by the carnivorous canines. As the Parkers witness what has suddenly happened—as the mother begins to cry, as the father and their two sons stare in shock—the oldest boy, Ralph, voices what all are thinking:

“The heavenly aroma still hung heavy in the house, but it was gone! All gone! No turkey! No turkey sandwiches! No turkey salad! No turkey gravy! Turkey hash! Turkey a la king! Or gallons of turkey soup! Gone, all gone!”

Unbridled joy suddenly turned to dismay. Such was the tennis world’s experience of Ash Barty in 2022. The turkey metaphor is exquisitely and even painfully fitting, if we consider tennis a series of utensils. A great many players are forks, their racquets stabbing and digging into their opponents in straightforward fashion. But occasionally there come knives—greats such as Ken Rosewall, Manuel Santana, John McEnroe, Roger Federer and Barty who can deftly carve the opposition into ribbons with delicate feel, variety, precision and, when the situation calls for it, power.

All of this craftsmanship was on display over the course of the 11 matches Barty played in 2022. It was a year—more accurately, a month—confined strictly to her homeland of Australia. In the first week of January, Barty won a tournament in Adelaide. Her four wins there were earned over a quartet so fitting you’d think it had been scripted:

• In Barty’s first match, she rallied from a set down to beat rising star Coco Gauff, 4-6, 7-5, 6-1.
• Next, a 6-2, 6-4 win over Sofia Kenin, the player who’d beaten her in the semis of the 2020 Australian Open before going on to take the title.
• In the semis, another straight-set win, this time over her eventual successor, Iga Swiatek.
• And in the finals, Barty beat eventual Wimbledon champion, Elena Rybakina, 6-3, 6-2.

For good measure, Barty also won the doubles title alongside her compatriot, Storm Sanders.

Asked by WTA Insider at the end of that week what her biggest takeaway was, Barty said, “What I take the most is the fact that we were able to be really present and have a lot of clarity in each and every match. I felt like tactically I was able to do what Tyzz [Craig Tyzzer, Barty’s coach] and I wanted to do this week. I had that really fresh mindset and just played with freedom and played my brand of tennis. When my back was against the wall, I was able to produce some pretty good stuff.”

What happened in Adelaide was a hopeful prelude to the title Barty sought most. The last time an Australian woman had won the Australian Open was in 1978, when Chris O’Neil triumphed over an extremely shallow field. Nearly 50 years later, there was no doubting the tournament’s depth and global significance.

Barty’s three years leading up to this event had been superb. In 2019, she’d won her first major; surprisingly, it had come at Roland Garros. In 2020, Barty returned home starting in March and didn’t play another tournament amid a year marred by COVID. Fully committed in 2021, Barty was magnificent. Leaving Australia in March for six months, Barty’s ’21 tally of results included five singles titles, including Wimbledon.

But Melbourne hadn’t gone quite as well. Versus Kenin in the ’20 semis, Barty had held two set points in both sets before losing 7-6 (6), 7-5. Twelve months later, up against Karolina Muchova in the quarters, the match slipped through Barty’s fingers, Muchova winning 1-6, 6-3, 6-2.

This year, however, every piece of the Barty game came together. In six matches and 12 sets leading up to the finals, only once was Barty extended to 6-4. Her opponent in the finals was Collins, the hard-hitting American who in the semis had beaten Swiatek. With such compatriots and past champions as O’Neil and Barty’s idol, Evonne Goolagong, watching, Barty handily won the first set, 6-3.

Then came Collins, her pace increasing through the early stages of the second set. There was little Barty could do except defend and either see a shot fly by her or be forced into one error after another. With Collins ahead 5-1, a third set seemed likely. But Barty rallied to level the set and was completely in charge of the tiebreaker—closing it out, 7-2, with a forehand passing shot.

“I just wanted to try and shift and be a little more aggressive, adjust a couple of things tactically just to get momentum if we went to a third,” said Barty. “Tennis is a funny game with the scoring system and things can change so quickly it feels like at times.”

It was fitting that Goolagong, a fellow indigenous Australian, came on court to hand Barty the trophy.

“To be able to have this feeling and experience this a few times over, I just understand how fortunate I am to be able to experience that, because not many people get to do that,” said Barty.

She was 25 years old. Such similar all-court greats as Martina Navratilova at that age had also earned three majors. All appeared in place for Barty to win many more big titles.

But then came the big surprise. On Tuesday, March 22, Barty announced her retirement.

“I know how much work it takes to bring the best out of yourself,” she said. “I’ve said it to my team multiple times—‘I just don’t have that in me anymore.’ Physically, I have nothing more to give. I’ve given absolutely everything I have to this beautiful sport of tennis, and I’m really happy with that. For me, that is my success.”

The heavenly memory of Barty’s elegant playing style lingered over courts and in the minds of tennis aficionados all over the world. Barty forehands and backhands. The Barty slice. The Barty serve. Barty volleys. Barty point construction and movement. Gone. All gone.