Legendary players have legendary life experiences.
For most legendary players, their legends are mainly reflected in sports records: how many major championships they have won, how many major awards they have won, how many historical records they have set, and so on.
Barty, who was former world number one in women's tennis and just retired last month, has a completely different legendary experience. While the 40-year-old Serena and Federer were still continuing their careers, the 25-year-old and healthy Barty had retired, a move that was legendary.
Barty's legend also lies in her unique and rich sports career.
Born in April 1996, Barty won the Wimbledon Junior Women's Singles title at the age of 15. In 2013, the 17-year-old Barty reached the Australian Open, Wimbledon and US Open women's doubles finals. In 2014, at the age of 18, Barty announced that he had retired from tennis to play cricket, and his peers often had just started their professional tennis careers.
In February 2016, Barty announced his return to tennis. Just 13 months later, Barty won the Malaysian Open from qualifying rounds to the final again in Birmingham Meadows in June and again at the Wuhan Super Five Tour (the predecessor of the WTA1000) in September.
Since then, Barty has been hanging all the way, and she won the French Open championship and the Shenzhen year-end finals in 2019, achieving the year-end world first. In 2021, Barty won the Wimbledon title and the Australian Open in January this year.
On March 23, Barty abruptly announced her retirement, her second retirement from tennis, because she was going to "chase other dreams". On March 25, I wrote in Barty's Detailed Explanation of the Reasons for Her Retirement, What Is The Difference Between Her Philosophy of Life and Us? In the article, the deep-seated reasons behind Barty's rapids retreat are analyzed from the perspective of values, revealing the underlying logic of her decision.
People wonder what the young Barty will do when he retires? How will she survive the long retirement life?
Now, that question has an answer.
According to a number of media reports such as the British "Mirror", Barty decided to change his career to become a writer, writing children's books and his own memoirs.
Barty has previously played golf and cricket, and speculation has been made that she may have worked in both sports after retiring from tennis. But the clearer trend is that Barty will focus on writing in the near future, starting with a set of six children's books about her family life. It is reported that the title of this set of books is "Little Ash", which is also Barty's milk name.
HarperCollins Publishing Company will publish the series, which is scheduled to be available in July. "It's a very interesting project and something I've always wanted to do." Barty also said it was her five-year-old niece, Lucy, who prompted her decision to write the children's book.
"Lucy is my North Star. She is at the best age to understand the storyline and read children's books. Barty believes he is happy to contribute to inspiring the next generation.
In addition to children's books, Barty also intends to write a memoir. Usually, memoirs are written by retired seniors to review and summarize their life's experiences, but it is very rare to start writing memoirs at the age of 25.
"At the age of 25, it's not very normal for something like this to happen, but it's a very exciting project." Barty said. "Looking back and talking about my past experiences, I'm excited to confide so much happiness and heartache, and it's going to be a great book."
When I learned that Barty was about to write a children's book, it occurred to me that the reason that prompted her to retire from the army might have something to do with the "motherhood" that surged up in her heart, in addition to her values.
Scientific studies have shown that when women reach childbearing age, they instinctively develop a tendency to want to nurture and protect the next generation. Almost all mothers (humans and animals) experience this special feeling after having children, they will be more loving, they will love small children and small animals.
During last year's Wimbledon, Barty chatted with her family on the phone and in text every day, especially with her four-year-old niece, Lucy. "I know that Lucy wakes up every morning and asks Aunt Ashley if she has won. When I leave the stadium, my family will text that both my nephew and niece will be told how Aunt Ashley played all night, which fills my heart with joy. ”
Barty's love for children is in many ways. She once held her little niece to the press conference of the 2020 Australian Open. "This is my niece who was born not long ago. My sister gave birth to her about 11-12 weeks ago. Yes, that's what life is all about, it's amazing! ”
Despite losing to Kenning in the semifinals, Barty didn't feel sad or depressed, "Winning is a beautiful thing, and life is also a beautiful thing." As soon as I saw Lucy, I had a smile on my face and I had to give her a hug, everything was so beautiful. ”
Anyone who knows Barty well knows that she is a very family lover. Unwilling to travel long distances across the ocean, Barty gave up last year's WTA year-end finals in Mexico. For her, being able to spend time with her family and teach her nieces and nephews to play tennis is the happiest thing.
(Source: Tennis House Author: Yun Cirrus Yunshu)