Commentary
On March 23, Ashleigh Barty shocked Australia and the international tennis community when he announced his retirement from sports. This unexpected announcement came a few weeks after her latest achievement, and she won the Australian Open.
Immediately after her historic victory in Melbourne, I wrote an opinion piece in The Epoch Times, describing Bertie’s victory at the Australian Open as a “celebration of the indomitable human spirit.” I predicted that this tournament would go down in history as her personal victory for Ashleigh Barty, the “female champion who brought Australia the first victory in 44 years”.
Bertie is the winner of three majors: the French Open, Wimbledon and the Australian Open. For the past two years, she has maintained the ranking of the best tennis players in the world. During her lucrative career, she saved nearly US $ 24 million in her prize money.
Her announcement was incredible, but it also produced many congratulatory messages from tennis players and politicians.
Since Bertie is a public figure, it’s important to see why she took this unexpected step at the young age of 25.
“I am very happy and very ready, and I now know this is right in my heart as a person,” she said in the announcement.
She thinks that winning Wimbledon was the most successful crown of tennis career, the game changer, and winning the Australian Open was able to stop the 44-year drought of Australian female players. I explained that it was a cherry blossom on the cake. Who won the tournament?
Many have praised her decision since Bertie’s announcement, but some have expressed their sadness and even disappointment. They claim that reaching her retirement age at the age of 25 is premature in the life of professional sports.
In this view, people with extraordinary skills and talents are obliged to themselves, perhaps even moral obligations, to realize their potential.
There is no doubt that Bertie could have achieved more tournaments, including Grand Slam, if he pursued the realization of unexplored possibilities. For example, winning the US Open Tennis Championships, there is always an unlimited degree of sport excellence. This allows her to complete her Grand Slam victory and remain the number one player in the world.
Does this lead to the question of whether people have a moral obligation to realize their potential?
In fact, some philosophers, such as Immanuel Kant, argue that if this is not done, the world will be a poorer place and it is obligatory to realize its potential.
Of course, Bertie has the right to make career decisions that she feels in her best interests. Therefore, even if the international tennis world is saddened by her decision to retire from professional tennis, her decision to pursue her other dreams should be respected.
Bertie is engaged and probably wants to calm down and pursue other challenges, but there are many challenges in it.
However, there was a comment in her announcement that it might reveal the real reason for her decision to retire. She said she no longer has “the physical impulses, emotional desires, and all sorts of things she needs to challenge herself at the highest level anymore.” To be sure, it makes no sense to continue a competitive sport when the motivation and fiery desire to compete at the highest level is lost.
Steve Milne reported in the Epoch Times that Bertie had told his friend Casey Dellacqua that he was also a retired professional tennis player.
However, in this context, the decision to retire is an intensive personal choice, but it should be remembered that those in Bertie’s position also have an unexpressed but real obligation to Australia. Because she is one of the best ambassadors in the world. She exports her excellence, determination, and sports prowess that the world respects and appreciates.
But the tennis community doesn’t necessarily have to worry about Bertie’s unexpected announcement. To be sure, Bertie has no chance of returning to sports someday. She retired once before Bertie to play professional cricket, but in 2016 she returned to competitive tennis to revive her career.
She reminds the tennis world of Belgian tennis champion Kim Clijsters. Kim Clijsters retired for the first time in 2007 at the age of 23, marrying basketball player Brian Lynch and becoming her mother. She wins three more Grand Slams, including the Australian Open. After she retired for seven years, she returned to her second tour in 2020, but she was defeated in the first round of most of the tournaments she attended.
Perhaps Bertie will surprise us all within a few years with the announcement of his return to professional tennis. If so, she will still have excellent abilities in many productive years and demanding international tennis circuits to play before her.
The Bertie party is over, but for now it may not be an indefinite and permanent retirement from tennis. The tennis world can expect one day Bertie to complete her Grand Slam victory and return to please fans around the world with her skills and elegance.
The views expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of The Epoch Times.
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Gabriël A. MoensAM is an emeritus professor at the University of Queensland and was the Vice-President and Dean of the University of Queensland. In 2003, Mornes was awarded the Australian Centennial Medal by the Prime Minister for her service to education. He has taught extensively in Australia, Asia, Europe, and the United States. Moens recently published two novels, “ATwisted Choice” (Boolarong Press, 2020) and “The Coincidence” (Connor Court Publishing, 2021).