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Ash Barty's retirement from professional tennis at the age of 25 was a shock to many, considering she was world number one and fresh off winning the Australian Open.
But as Barty revealed, she is leaving on her own terms and it is a decision that has been met by widespread respect and admiration.
She is not the first athlete to call time at the peak of their career, nor at an age when it appeared they could dominate for years to come.
While this is not an exhaustive list, here are some other athletes who have exited their chosen sport earlier than expected.
Shane Gould
Australian swimmer Shane Gould was only 15 when she won three Olympic gold medals — in addition to a silver and bronze — at the 1972 Munich Olympics.
Her victories in the 200 and 400 metres freestyle events, and the 200m individual medley, were all achieved in world-record times.
A second Olympics appearance at the 1976 Montreal Games seemed inevitable, but Gould quit swimming at the age of 16.
She told the ABC in 2012 she felt "trapped in being the image of 'Shane Gould, the swimmer'".
"People ask me why I quit swimming," Gould said.
"I just couldn't do the other thing. So I think at a very fundamental level that's why I stopped."
Mark Ella
At 25, Wallabies star Mark Ella had the world at his feet.
He was considered the best five-eighth in international rugby and had scored a try in each of the Wallabies' Tests as they completed a historic grand slam on their 1984 tour of Great Britain and Ireland.
But months later, Ella announced his retirement, bringing to an end a brief but decorated 25-Test career that also included a Bledisloe Cup win in 1980.
"Why did I retire? I had better things to do," Ella told the Talking with TK Podcast.
Ella did come out of retirement to play club rugby in 1989, helping his beloved Randwick win a Sydney premiership.
But he did not make himself available for representative selection, despite interest from then-Wallabies coach Bob Dwyer.
Lorena Ochoa
Professional golfers can enjoy careers stretching across decades, as illustrated when Phil Mickelson won a major aged 50.
But Lorena Ochoa was having none of that when she announced her retirement in 2010.
The Mexican had been world number one for three years when she stepped away from the game at 28.
She claimed two majors among her 27 LPGA Tour victories and her 158 consecutive weeks at the top of the rankings remains a record.
"I'm ready to move on," Ochoa told the media in 2010.
"I am 100 per cent complete."
Nico Rosberg
Amid the celebrations just hours after he captured the 2016 F1 world drivers championship, 31-year-old Nico Rosberg decided it was time to move on with his life.
Five days later, the German stunned his fans when he publicly announced he was retiring from a sport in which drivers often compete well into their 30s and — for some — even beyond.
"For 25 years in racing, it has been my dream, my one thing [I wanted] — to become Formula One world champion," Rosberg said at the time.
"Through the hard work, the pain, the sacrifices, this has been my target. And now I've made it.
Rosberg — whose Finnish father Keke won the the 1982 F1 championship — is five months younger than the driver he beat to the title in 2016, Lewis Hamilton.
Hamilton has won four of the five world drivers' championships since finishing runner-up to Rosberg.