Barty put family first in 2014 tennis walkout

Ash Barty has told Australia’s ABC TV a feeling of ‘disconnect’ with her family was the reason she walked away from tennis earlier in her career.

World No. 1 Barty said her relationship with tennis was very different in 2014 to what its is today, when she quit the sport to pursue a cricket career, hoping the lack of travel would suit her better.

She returned to tennis in 2016, though, and hasn’t looked back.

But in 2014 life was very different.

“I think I just needed to find myself a little bit,” Barty said.

“I felt like I got twisted and maybe a little bit lost along the way in the first part of my career, just within myself mentally and what I wanted to do.

“I was very luck to have a lot of success but I’m still very much a homebody and I kind of lost my way a little bit with not being able to connect with my family.

“I even think kind of disconnected with my family in a way.

“We didn’t have the same conversation, we didn’t have the same depth of conversation.

“We didn’t lose that love or that care but for me I just kind of felt like there was a bit of a split and it was a bit of a fork.

“I wanted to come back to that. I wanted to come back to my family and come back to those that love me the most.”