Ash Barty - the reigning Wimbledon and Australian Open champion, and World No.1 for the last 114 weeks - has announced her retirement. In this emergency edition of the podcast, David, Catherine and Matt react to the news. How much of a surprise is it? Is it possible to feel happy for Barty but sad for tennis at the same time? In what way is this different from the last time Barty stepped away from the sport? How has the tennis world responded to the news? Might she be back at some point in the future? And how will her retirement impact the sport? We also cover the news that Rafael Nadal will be out for 4-6 weeks with a stress fracture to his left rib. What does this do for his Roland Garros chances? Sign up to our newsletter - https://bit.ly/TennisPodcastNewsletterFollow us on:Instagram - www.instagram/thetennispodcastTwitter - www.twitter.com/tennispodcastFRIENDS OF THE TENNIS PODCAST Friends of The Tennis Podcast receive exclusive access to bonus podcasts throughout the year and help to keep the weekly podcast and the Grand Slam dailies free-to-all. So far in 2022, we’ve produced two episodes of Australian Open Re-Lived, an Australian Open review show, a listener Q&A, and a special 100-minute show dedicated to the career of Juan Martin del Potro. Become a Friend - https://bit.ly/FriendOfTheTennisPodcast Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.