Yesterday, Ashleigh Barty shocked the tennis world by announcing a sudden retirement from the game at the age of 25. Barty has been in incredible form since the start of 2021. Last year, she won the Yarra Valley Classic, the Miami Open, Stuttgart Open, Wimbledon, and the Cincinnati Open. In 2022, she continued her roaring form, winning the Adelaide International 1, and the Australian Open. Statistically, the 25-year-old is on an 11-0 win streak in 2022. Keeping the tournaments records aside, Barty has also been the World No. 1 for the last 114 weeks.

Barty expressed that she was physically and emotionally spent and had nothing more to offer on a tennis court. In her retirement announcement, Barty said, “I don’t have it in me anymore. I don’t have the physical drive, the emotional want and everything it takes to challenge yourself at the very top level anymore.”

Following her retirement announcement, the world is busy speculating the possible reasons for Barty’s sudden retirement. However, in this whole discussion, one aspect that has gone missing is the question: Is Barty the only player to have taken a retirement being on the top spot?

The answer to the question is, NO!

Apart from Barty, there is one more player who retired from the professional circuit being the World No. 1. Who? Belgian Tennis sensation, Justine Henin.

The prosperous career of Justine Henin

Justine Henin turned pro in 1999. On 16th May 1999, Henin wrote her name in the history books by winning her maiden WTA title in her maiden WTA event. Being in a roaring form, in the same year she marked her entry into the Top 100. Even though Justine was climbing the ladder of success at a speed unmatched by any other player during that time, one of the major feats that was missing from her portfolio was a Major title

However, after rigorous hard work and dedication, it was in 2003 that her wait finally ended. She went on to beat her arch-rival and fellow countryman Kim Clijsters to win her first Grand Slam title at Roland Garros. The same year, she also went on to win the US Open and in the process achieved arguably the biggest feat for a tennis player, becoming the World No.1.

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The later years of Henin

In 2004, Justine Henin won the Australian Open amongst other tournaments. However, a different accomplishment made the year one of the most pleasant ones in her career. In 2004, she won the Gold Medal at the Athens Olympics.

During the period 2005-2007, Henin continued her devastating run, winning a number of titles including Grand Slams and the WTA Finals. She also became the first woman in the history of women’s tennis to earn more than $5 million as prize money.

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Everything seemed to be going her way on a tennis court. Henin began 2008 with a title win at the WTA 500 Medibank Open in Sydney. Despite suffering a quarterfinal exit at the Australian Open, she made a comeback, winning the title in Antwerp. Looking in good touch, defending champion Henin was the favorite to win the 2008 Roland Garros, scheduled to start from 25th May 2008.

However, 11 days prior to the French Open, on 14th May 2008, Henin called for a press conference in a sports complex in the town of Limelette, Belgium.

The press conference that changed it all

All eyes were at Henin’s press conference. Days prior to the conference, the then World No. 1 had withdrawn from the Rome Open, citing fatigue. Taking that into consideration, it was highly speculated that the press conference would be to announce her withdrawal from the French Open.

However, what happened next left everyone awestruck. Entering the conference with coach Carlos Rodríguez, Henin started speaking.

“I am here to announce that I am putting an end to my tennis career without further delay. I know it’s a shock and a surprise for many people, but it’s a decision I have been thinking about thoroughly for a while now, say, since the end of 2007.”

That was not all. She further added, “I am leaving as the world No. 1 and that is important as it is always better to go out at the top. I leave without any regrets and I know it is the right decision.”

Being out of the tour for a year, Henin made a comeback in 2010. Unlike docile comebacks of other players, Henin’s was a strong one, winning titles in Stuttgart on clay and on the grass in the ‘s’-Hertogenbosch, Netherlands. She also reached the later rounds in almost all the tournaments she played. However, her return was short-lived. Playing Kim Clijsters in the 4th round of 2010 Wimbledon, she injured her elbow. Being out of the tour for the remainder of the season, she made a comeback at the 2011 Australian Open. However, after her 3rd round loss at the Australian Open, she realized that her elbow could never fully be recovered. As a result, post her Australian Open loss, she announced permanent retirement from the sport.

Commonalities between the retirement of Ashleigh Barty and Justine Henin

Ashleigh Barty and Justine Henin played in two completely different generations of the sport. However, even after being from two different generations, their retirement announcements have a long of commonalities.

The first and the foremost point of commonality, both the players were on the top of the ranking list at the time of their retirement. However, what steals the limelight is their total weeks at the top spot. Going by the record, Ashleigh Barty has been on the top spot for a total of 121 weeks. On the other hand, Justine Henin is not far behind, as she clocked a total of 117 weeks at the number 1 spot.

The second point of commonality is age. Justine Henin was 25-years-old when she announced her retirement in 2008. Co-incidentally, the 2022 Australian Open champion, Barty is also 25 years old.

Apart from these, the most important point of commonality is the reason for retirement. Even though it’s not 100% identical, it wouldn’t be wrong to say, they are quite similar.

Ashleigh Barty opens up on her reasons for her retirement

During her retirement announcement yesterday, Barty reasoned her decision saying, ” I don’t have it in me anymore. I don’t have the physical drive, the emotional want and everything it takes to challenge yourself at the very top level anymore.” Co-incidentally, during her retirement announcement, Justine Henine also mentioned that she didn’t feel the same emotions on court anymore.

Watch this story- Glorious moments from Ashleigh Barty’s illustrious career

That’s not all. Barty further expressed that, “I know that the time is right now for me to step away and chase other dreams.” Comparing it to Henin, she also mentioned that she wanted to explore other paths of life.

Both the players have retired from tennis. However, the two have undoubtedly given some of the biggest and the greatest memories for us to cherish. Being the champions of their time, the two have surely inspired the tennis community, and shall continue to do so for years to come.