Justine Henin retired just before her 26th birthday while being the #1 ranked female tennis player in the world. She won 7 Grand Slams and an Olympic Gold medal.
Good call, I forgot about Henin. Didn't she un-retire at some point? She seemed like kind of a nasty person, probably why I've forgotten about her.
It's been awhile so I'll give her the benefit of the doubt on being nasty but, yeah, she unretired for a very short time. As far as forgetting about her most everyone did and most everyone will forget about Ash Barty in a few years, even though she seems like a very good person.
I don't get how we've raised a generation of people that they think life is so hard even when the are multimillionaires at 25. Seriously, what do they want out of life? Isn't playing a game better than the other options out there?
She has been a professional (essentially) since she was 15 years old traveling the world. This is not the glamorous lifestyle you think it is. Living out of a suitcase (even a very nice one) is not an easy thing to do.
There is more to it than "playing a game". There is conditioning, there is constant nutrition, there is the constant travel, there are idiots like a lot of you on message boards who have accomplished far less in your lives casting stones at her.
She wants to enjoy life and not be chasing titles around the world any more.
I don't get how we've raised a generation of people that they think life is so hard even when the are multimillionaires at 25. Seriously, what do they want out of life? Isn't playing a game better than the other options out there?
Wow, how brain dead do you have to be to think it's a bad idea to retire at 25 if you have earned over 20 million? Invested, that'll earn them over a million a year for the rest of their life. Who can't live a great life on a million a year?
They won. They get to enjoy the rest of their life. So weird to see Americans hate people smart enough to enjoy life. What's the point of working if you don't need money? Americans have disease. Workaholicism is not a virtue.
She has earned a tidy sum but out of that comes travel expenses along with paying for coaches, trainers, and the taxes are probably big. That said, she could live comfortably off the interest.
100% agree with this. If she's worth millions, why keep grinding away in the public eye? She can now go on and do whatever the hell she wants. This is a baller move.
To be fair to OP, i dont think OP is asking if she is "allowed to retire" as many have suggested. i think the question revolves around young talented people having to retire due to pressure/ burn out. Valid question. To be clear, i am quite sure i would have not been a model citizen if anyone gave me a even mill when i was young.
Maybe there is a difference in earning a million and being given a million. No one "gave" her anything. She earned it.
Bjorn Borg also quit at around the same age. In his prime.
He was the definition of mental toughness.
Being a pro tennis player is a grind. Ruthless competition. Constant international travel. You eat what you kill. No contracts. No teammates.
I'm not saying it's "harder" (whatever that means) than other jobs in "normal life". The players of course choose this path. No complaining. I'm just sayin it's not a powder puff cakewalk.
Not a lot of other jobs have millions watching you and often commenting on what you are doing while having little understanding of what you do. Few people even know who anyone on this board is. If any of us quit or job or even died tomorrow, about 2 dozen might care and maybe a few more would even notice. No one is starting a thread on a stupid message board about it.
That article didn’t say anything about pressure or mental health, where are you getting that OP?
I’m sure there is a grind to all pro sports. If you’re already rich and you’ve accomplished all your goals, if you lose your love of the sport for whatever reason the grind is not going to seem worth it any more.
For what it’s worth I’d retire tomorrow if I could, and I even like my job.
I don't get how we've raised a generation of people that they think life is so hard even when the are multimillionaires at 25. Seriously, what do they want out of life? Isn't playing a game better than the other options out there?
Exactly. If her financial needs are met, why keep grinding away at work? Maybe there are other more fun ways to spend her time than hitting 1000 balls a day.
Because your life becomes pointless? 25 is too young to be having fun the rest of your life. You need drive and a purpose, that's a big part of what makes life worth living. Hopefully she has something to fill that void.
Are you that much of an unimaginative bore that you need someone to tell you what to do to give your life purpose? Learn a new language, or how to play a instrument. Travel. Hell, train for a marathon.
That article didn’t say anything about pressure or mental health, where are you getting that OP?
I’m sure there is a grind to all pro sports. If you’re already rich and you’ve accomplished all your goals, if you lose your love of the sport for whatever reason the grind is not going to seem worth it any more.
For what it’s worth I’d retire tomorrow if I could, and I even like my job.
What net worth would it take for you to retire?
Me? Anonymous nobody? My target is $2.5 million by age 54 for myself and spouse. There is some conservatism in my projections so age 50 is not out of the question. Fingers crossed. If I could do life over again I'd be a software engineer and make the bigger bucks.
Every reply basically says "why not retire, she's got enough money!"
I don't think this is a matter of having made enough. She played tennis, got a certain level of satisfaction from it, but has now decided that it is not what she wants to be doing with her life - she was never doing it for the money in the first place, and she's not quitting because the pressure got too much.
Ash - thanks for all the late nights. I enjoyed following your career, and hope you enjoy whatever your next venture in life is
An awkward sentence fragment. In the first place, when she was a little kid, of course she was not playing tennis for the money. Then you stated never. She must have been thinking about stopping for awhile. Of course the last few months or last few years she was playing for the money and not for the love of tennis. That is okay.
I strongly disagree. If you want proof, go look up her sponsor earnings compared to Osaka.
She wanted to win Wimbeldon. She held on to win a home grand slam. I don't think she once cared about the prize money involved in either of those events
Wimbledon - check home Slam - check world #1 - check
nothing left to prove
You are out of your mind. Plenty left to prove. US Open and career slam just for a start. I think it is insane unless she is risking physical injury by playing. Even if it is mental health, take a break instead of retire.
Maybe she's just sick of f***ing playing tennis? It's not that hard. She's wealthy, had enough, and has the resources to move on. Good for her.
I know! I often wonder how pro athletes can continue to play after their first contact is up. They've already made more money than they ever would have ever made working a straight job.
You're 26-28 years old, you have $15-$20M in the bank... If that's me I am D O N E.
If you were 25 and won a $20M lottery would you keep working? Heck no.
Some people want to build a legacy or break records. That usually takes longevity. It's like NFL guys who go to other teams late in career to try and win a Superbowl. They really have nothing to prove but want the ring. Or they want to become their team's leading receiver, whatever.
She's apparently won three grand slams, which is very impressive. But, in the general scheme of things, she'll be a minor note in Women's tennis compared to those who hang around longer and win more titles. Nothing wrong with that, but the casual viewer won't know who she is or what she did ten years from now, but they'll still be talking about Serena, etc.
And, again, she DOESN'T GIVE A SH*T. Some people do, the ones who live/eat/breath their sport, some people don't. I am guessing she is not going to care one bit whether or not the 'casual viewer' knows about her.
I don't get how we've raised a generation of people that they think life is so hard even when the are multimillionaires at 25. Seriously, what do they want out of life? Isn't playing a game better than the other options out there?
This is kind of a fascinating thread, though I'm heartened to see most posters don't share the OP's odd take.
I enjoy the contrast between this thread and the frequent threads bashing runners for *not* retiring sooner. The theme in those threads is that there's something selfish about running around in circles for personal satisfaction once you're an adult, instead of building a career and contributing to society. Barty, in contrast, has decided to stop playing games for a living, and has already had a successful enough career to never worry about financial stability. Damned if you do and damned if you don't, I guess.
I also enjoy the critiques of young athletes being "unable to handle it" from people who presumably have never managed to be good enough at anything to have tens of millions of people following their every move. Maybe there's a connection there. Instead of asking "why do they find it so hard?", you should ask "why do I find it so easy? and is that why I've never been ranked number one in the world?"