Ash Barty sold Brisbane property to staff ahead of shock retirement

Tennis world number one Ash Barty sold off property in Brisbane to staff in the weeks leading up to her shock immediate retirement.

World number one Ash Barty during a visit to Uluru with the Australian Open trophy. Source: https://twitter.com/TennisAustralia

Tennis world number one Ash Barty sold off property in Brisbane to staff in the weeks leading up to her shock immediate retirement.

A new build house Barty bought six years ago changed ownership to one of her team members credited with helping her get back her form and fitness levels leading up to major grand slam wins in the past year.

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Ashleigh Barty reacts during the women's singles final with Karolina Pliskova of the Czech Republic at Wimbledon tennis Championship in London, Britain, on July 10, 2021. Picture: Han Yan/Xinhua via Getty Images.

She sold off the Brisbane property to her physical performance coach Matt Hayes two days after smashing a 41-year hoodoo winning the Australian Open. Emotional scenes after Barty won Wimbledon show her bugging Hayes in the stands after winning the final in July last year.

CoreLogic records show that plans for the property sale were underway months before Barty headed into a hectic summer training program leading to her Australian Open win.

Barty struck a deal to sell the four bedroom house for $520,000 to Hayes in October last year, the records showed, with a three month settlement period.

The Brisbane property in Greater Springfield that has sold for $520,000 had a Newport design on it. Picture: CoreLogic

Hayes was declared to be a related party and named as an “employee/contractor” in the deal.

The private sale involved a four bedroom, two bathroom, two car garage house in Greater Springfield in Brisbane’s west where Barty grew up.

The world number one tennis player had bought the site developers Stockland, paying $246,036, a 44 per cent discount on the $439,496 Stockland had been advertising the house and land package at. According to CoreLogic, the site valuation was around $255,000 now.

Barty – whose First Nation roots are with the Ngaragu people of southern NSW and northeastern Victoria – is a Tennis Australia Indigenous ambassador and has personal commitments as ambassador for the Greater Springfield area, which she calls home.

The home in Greater Springfield that remains in the family.

The area is surrounded by natural bushland with major plans to make it an educational and health hub. Homes in the suburb Barty sold in don’t last long on the market, selling within 10 days according to CoreLogic, with prices having jump 12.7 per cent in the last five years and median rent sitting at $460 a week.

Barty owns another house in Greater Springfield, bought for $650,000 in 2018, which she bought with her sister Sara, and her parents also own a home in the area.

She is also brand ambassador for Esmi Skin Minerals among sponsorship and other deals she has in place. Barty is a much loved and revered figure across Queensland and Australia, and has drawn wide praise from across the world in the wake of her shock announcement of immediate retirement.

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