The three-time Grand Slam winner posted an emotional video on Instagram with the shock news.
''Today is difficult and filled with emotion for me as I announce my retirement from tennis,” the caption read.
“I wasn’t sure how to share this news with you so I asked my good friend @caseydellacqua to help me.”
Speaking to her former doubles partner, Barty said she knew in her heart “this is right”.
“I know I’ve done this before, but in a very different feeling, and I am so grateful to everything tennis has given me,” Barty said, while holding back tears,
“It has given me all of my dreams, plus more.
“But I know the time is right now for me to step away and chase other dreams.
Aussie crowds were treated to a special goodbye to Barty this Summer, when she won the Australian Open.
“There was just a little part of me that wasn’t quite satisfied, that wasn’t quite fulfilled, and then came the challenge of The Australian Open,” Barty continues in the video.
