Ash Barty reveals new career move after shock retirement from tennis

Ash Barty is releasing a series of children’s books titled Little Ash in her first move since she shocked the sporting world by announcing her retirement from tennis last month.

The 25-year-old is writing the titles with Jasmin McGaughey and they’re being illustrated by Jade Goodwin, with publisher HarperCollins planning to have one of the books hit shelves on July 6. 

‘It’s the day of the tennis tournament and Ash is so excited to compete! But Ash forgets her favourite hat, there’s a flat tyre and Ash wonders how they will ever get there! Will Ash arrive in time for her big match?’ reads the synopsis for Little Ash: Tennis Rush! on the HarperCollins website. 

Barty plans to read the books to kids in rural Australia and will release a memoir of her incredible rise to become the world’s No.1 tennis player with the publisher later this year, the Courier Mail reported.  

Barty – seen here winning the Australian Open in January – is writing the Little Ash series, which is due to start hitting shelves on July 6

Barty revealed she is looking forward to ‘being really hands-on’ with reading the Little Ash books to kids in rural communities

The reigning Australian Open champion said she was inspired to get into book writing by her niece Lucy, five.

‘The project has been so much fun and something I have always wanted to do,’ she said.

‘Lucy was my north star. She is the perfect age to understand stories and storylines and read chapter books. 

‘Being able to read it to her will be great and to go up to readings to kids in rural areas is something I want to be really hands-on with.’ 

Barty said her five-year-old niece Lucy (pictured together) was her ‘north star’ when it came to the inspiration for the move into telling stories for children

Another of the Little Ash books, Lost Luck, sees the title character get out of the wrong side of the bed before a big match.

Barty said telling her story for the upcoming memoir ‘brought me so much joy and heartache and pain’ and described the book as ‘a tennis story, a family story, a teamwork story of how I got to where and who I am today’.

She told News Corp she has no regrets about quitting tennis.

‘I have spent so much time with my beautiful family and my nieces and nephew and you could not wipe the smile off my face in the last couple of weeks.’ 

Barty revealed she is loving doing the ‘simple things’ now she no longer has to face the grind of the pro tennis circuit.

She’s walking her dogs first thing after waking up in the morning and throwing a ball to them at the end of the day, saying, ‘it’s a good life.’ 

Spending time with her family has been the best thing about retirement, Barty revealed

The switch from tennis to publishing isn’t the first post-retirement move of Barty’s to make headlines. 

She won a golf tournament in Queensland on April 2, giving rise to speculation that she would swap the court for the fairway in her next sporting career move – and it wasn’t the first time she’d excelled at the sport. 

Barty also took out the women’s club championship at Queensland’s Brookwater course in 2020 with an easy win in the match-play final, leading men’s winner and two-time Queensland amateur champion Louis Dobbelaar to say she has ‘all the tools’ to make it on the pro tour. 

However, she said she had ‘a good laugh’ about rumours her golf wins would see her turn pro, insisting she’s happy just having casual games on weekends. 

Barty and her fiancee Garry Kissick on Queensland’s Brookwater Golf and Country Club course, where she won the women’s tournament on April 2. She has now shot down speculation she could swap the court for the fairway and become a professional golfer

The former world No.1 refused to say what her future plans were when she held a press conference to explain her shock retirement from tennis on March 23, saying only that the world would have to ‘wait and see’ what she does next.

She’s also been linked to interest from AFLW clubs because she’s a well-known Aussie Rules fanatic, and her time playing for the Brisbane Heat in the Women’s Big Bash League has given rise to rumours she could return to cricket.