ASHLEIGH BARTY: DREAMS FULFILLED

Patrick: Ashleigh Barty is 25, at the top of her game – currently #1 in women’s tennis for over two years – and now retired. This is huge, fellas.

John: It is.

Russ: Y’all right. This is big. I don’t know, though, how I feel about it.

John: All right, so let’s hash it out a bit. Looking back at the young Australian’s career, Ashleigh turned pro in April of 2010 right around her 14th birthday, so she’s been at it for quite a while. Her major highlights include winning three Grand Slams: Wimbledon, French Open, and Australian Open.

Donald: I’ve seen a few of her matches, and she always seems in control. Very commanding…and humble to boot.

Russ: Honestly, I don’t get it. She’s at the top of her game – why get out now? I mean, think about it – would Venus or Serena bounce out so quick? Billie Jean King? C’mon, at least hover around the 30-age area, right?

Patrick: Well, the streets’re saying she has aspirations of being a pro golfer. That, over the pandemic, she re-realized her love of golf and even cricket, and is thinking about getting into those passions. The streets said that. Now, she said, in one of her interviews, she wants to be closer to home with family. To spend more time with them. That I get.

Donald: I’ve also heard that she feels fulfilled with her goals in tennis. When she won Wimbledon within this past year, she thought that would be enough for her. However, she didn’t quite feel as fulfilled as she thought she would…so she hung in there until she won the Australian Open.

Russ: Oh, so home got her. Okay, okay…

John: And if what Patrick said is true—that she’s possibly looking into getting fully into golf or cricket—she’s no slouch in either of those sports. She once took a break from tennis and played for the women’s Brisbane Heat cricket team in the Big Bash League (BBL). It was in 2015. And she impressed from the beginning.

Patrick: I can see that. Even though she’s a lil’bit different from the rest of us in regard to her number-one status, I think the times we spent in our heads about and during this pandemic—the death, the trust, the world even bigger than the tiny one in which many of us have probably lived—will lend itself to a lot of changes that perhaps would not have gone down in the past.

Russ: Agreed. I know I want to spend as much time with my family as possible. Even if I see that I can make some needed cash working, I find that, sometimes, I’m okay with “paying” for the time I spend with family instead. Forty/fifty bucks versus hanging out with family? I’m more down to hang with my lady or my grandkids or other

Donald: That’s the thing, too. What Ashleigh is doing is what most of us want: that opportunity to pursue our real passion. I mean, a lot of us are doing something close to what we like to do…but not what we love. That’s a problem.

John: And that’s what we want: those in our entertainment sports to have passion for it, so that when we pay for those tickets, we’re paying to see folks who really want to be out there.

Donald: So, for me, Ashleigh Barty has earned my respect. And I hope she finds her posttennis life with her family as fulfilling as winning the Australian Open.

Any comments or suggestions? Email pedwards@streetwise.org

Vendors Russell Adams

Vendor John Hagan

Vendor Donald Morris

Executive Assistant Patrick Edwards