The Australian, who has won three grand slams and is the reigning Wimbledon and Australian Open champion, said she was retiring from the sport to “chase other dreams”.
Browsing: Ash Barty
The 25-year-old Barty, who won her maiden Grand Slam at Roland Garros in 2019, emulated her idol Evonne Goolagong who claimed the second of her All England Club titles in 1980.
The 2019 champion trailed 6-1, 2-2 in the second round when she signaled she was not able to keep playing against Polish opponent Magda Linette on Court Philippe Chatrier.
Williams, the winner of 23 Grand Slam singles titles, had set up a mouth-watering semi-final clash against world number one Australian Ash Barty after defeating fellow American Danielle Collins 6-2 4-6 (10-6) on Margaret Court Arena.
This is in spite of Barty having skipped two Grand Slams and not playing a match since February.
The match ended in dramatic fashion when both Mertens and Sabalenka were drawn into the net and Barty sent a lob over both their heads.
Eight-time Champion Roger Federer was confirmed as the second seed for Wimbledon on Wednesday, bumping Rafael Nadal down to third in spite being ranked below the Spaniard.
It was a far from easy first Grand Slam appearance back for the American, but she closed out a hard-fought win in two tight sets.