Ash Barty: ‘I miss competing but not a lot that comes with it’ | Ash Barty

As Ash Barty surveyed Melbourne Park on Monday, a relatively new jewel at the nation’s home of tennis stood out as completely foreign to the reigning Australian Open champion. Shivering slightly in the shade at the scene of her drought-breaking triumph in January, the former world No 1 marvelled at how spectacular the site looked when completely empty.

The “people’s court” in particular caught the eye of Barty who, for the record, misses some aspects of the tennis tour but not enough to ever consider a professional comeback.

The new stadium court is where Nick Kyrgios and Thanasi Kokkinakis, her junior peers, whipped up a frenzy of their own on the way to the Australian Open doubles title in January. The fact Barty had never seen the court, despite Melbourne Park effectively being her queendom, provides another example as to why her days on the circuit are behind her.

As the hope of a nation and the world’s best tennis player, the Wimbledon winner shuttled between Rod Laver Arena and practice courts via a labyrinth of tunnels in January. Life inside Barty’s bubble proved critical to her drought-breaking success, but it also meant that much of the outside world was shut off, a fact of life she never enjoyed on the circuit.

“I can’t remember the last time I walked above the underground here. I am absolutely amazed at how it has changed,” she said. “How all the area around Show Court Three has changed. I’ve never seen Grand Slam Oval before. I’ve never seen it in full swing before. I’ve never been up to the level that the public access and the public see the tournament from. It’s different. Very different.”

Had Barty’s sole focus been on success between the baselines, she would most probably be in Fort Worth, Texas, this week competing for the WTA Finals title she claimed in 2019. A dash across the Atlantic Ocean to Glasgow would have beckoned to represent Australia in the Billie Jean King Cup alongside mates including Ajla Tomljanovic and Storm Sanders.

But the feeling of fulfilment that prompted her stunning retirement in March has not changed. “I miss competing and challenging myself against the best in the world [but] I don’t miss a lot that comes with it,” she said.

“Now I’m probably getting used to challenging myself in different ways and seeing how else I can be stimulated, seeing how else I can still compete, how else I can still grow. And I think doing that at home now is really fun.”

The Brisbane resident, who is loving the time she gets to spend around home as “Aunty Ash” as an active babysitter for her siblings, does not keep a close eye on results. But she marvelled at the year her successor to the crown, Iga Swiatek, enjoyed and believes the Polish star she considers a friend is capable of even greater things in the future.

“She is a breath of fresh air and she has completely and utterly dominated this season,” Barty said. “She has been a level above, a head above the rest, and…