Ian Chesterman, Chef de Mission for the Australian team at the Tokyo 2020 Olympics said: "Ash's astonishing performances on the court and generosity, empathy and humility off the court have inspired millions of Australians.

"Ash continued the proud tradition of Indigenous Australian Olympians, as one of a record 16 Indigenous athletes in the Tokyo team.

"Winning a bronze medal in the mixed doubles in her Olympic debut, Ash demonstrated her trademark spirit.

"You could see first-hand the strength and magnetism of Ash's personality, there was always a buzz when Ash was in the Village."

Barty explained her decision via her social media channels: "I don’t have the physical drive, the emotional want and everything it takes to challenge yourself at the very top of the level any more. I am spent.

"I know how much work it takes to bring the best out of yourself. I’ve said it to my team multiple times - ‘I just don’t have that in me anymore.’

"I’ve given absolutely everything I have to this beautiful sport of tennis, and I’m really happy with that."

Enigmatically, she added: "There was just a little part of me that wasn’t quite satisfied, wasn’t quite fulfilled. The time is right now for me to … chase other dreams."

She also described winning at Wimbledon as "the one true dream that I wanted in tennis."

Barty had stepped away from the sport once before, in 2014, having reached three Grand Slam women’s doubles finals in partnership with veteran Casey Dellacqua, and for a while she played cricket, signing for Brisbane Heat during the first season of the Women’s Big Bash League in Australia.

She also showed her talents as a golfer before returning to tennis in February 2016. Three years later came her breakthrough French Open singles title win - last year she won Wimbledon - this January she topped her career off with a home victory at the Australian Open.

Barty, who in November last year announced her engagement to Australian professional golfer Garry Kissick, with whom she had been going out since 2017, has been the world’s top ranked singles player for 114 consecutive weeks, with her current reign the fourth longest in Women’s Tennis Association (WTA) Tour history.

Her long-time mentor, Evonne Goolagong Cawley, winner of seven Grand Slam titles in the early 1970s, said she was excited to see what she did next.

"I’m so supportive of Ash and making a decision that is the best for her and makes her happy," she said.

"I can’t wait to see what the next chapter brings and to watch Ash achieve her dreams."

Another former Wimbledon champion, Petra Kvitova of the Czech Republic, said Barty had shown "true class leaving tennis in this beautiful way."

Sporting stars have retired in the past, only to relent. Will Barty return again to the sport, as she did in 2016? She thinks not.

Nobody will ever be able to take Barty’s tennis achievements away from her as she heads towards the rest of her life. She has stepped off at the top. And that is a thing of beauty.

There are parallels within tennis, although not exact ones.

France’s Marion Bartoli played in 47 Grand Slam events without winning a title before claiming the Wimbledon women’s singles crown in 2013, six years after being runner-up.

A few weeks afterwards at an emotional media conference the 28-year-old announced her retirement, saying: "I made my dream a reality and it will stay forever with me, but now my body just can't cope with everything. I have pain everywhere after 45 minutes or an hour of play."

There was an attempted comeback, however, in 2018 - but it was thwarted by continual injuries. She’d been right in the first place.

For other top women players, retirement proved to be the right decision for a while at least.

Kim Clijsters of Belgium had been playing professionally for 10 years before announcing her retirement at the age of 23 in 2007, at which point she had won the US Open and occupied the women’s world number one position for 19 weeks.

She complained that her muscles were stiff and aching, she had hurt her wrist and hip, and she had back pain. She described the cycle as "constant injuries and continual rehabilitation."

She left the sport for two years, getting married and having a child, before returning to earn further glory, adding US Open victories in 2009 and 2010.

Deciding when to step away from a stellar career is an eternal challenge for sportsmen and women.

Barty’s compatriot Herb Elliott had one of the most flawless exits when he retired from athletics in 1962, aged 24, having the 880 yards and mile titles at the 1958 Commonwealth Games and the 1960 Olympic 1500m title in Rome.

In winning his Olympic title in 3min 35.6sec he improved his own world record. Two years earlier he had also set a world record for the mile - a distance at which he had earned 36 victories and no defeats by the time he quit to pursue a highly successful business career.

That said - what might Elliott have done at the 1964 Olympics, where New Zealand’s Peter Snell, 800m winner in Rome, did the 800/1500m double?

Mark Spitz followed a similar trajectory to Elliott, retiring from swimming aged 22 after winning seven golds at the 1972 Munich Olympics to become a business entrepreneur.

"I retired because I didn't have a future in swimming because we couldn't make money," Spitz admitted during an interview in 2011.

Spitz returned to the pool in an unsuccessful quest to qualify for the 1992 Olympics, but that was essentially a stunt after filmmaker Bud Greenspan had offered the 41-year-old a million dollars if he could succeed.

Other sporting figures who have reached the heights have simply and effectively stepped off their careers at that elevation.

John Elway’s quarterback career with Denver Broncos began in 1983 and involved three near misses at winning American Football’s Super Bowl title.

In 1997, however, the Broncos won the title. The following year they did it again - and Elway, who was also awarded the Super Bowl Most Valuable Player after throwing for 336 passing yards and one touchdown, then retired, aged 38.

In 1969, Bill Russell had won 10 National Basketball Association rings with the Boston Celtics, as well as winning five National Basketball Association Most Valuable Player awards.

He had nothing to prove, but decided to play for one final season. He retired with 11 titles after the Celtics defeated the Los Angeles Lakers.

Between 1947 and 1956 Rocky Marciano won all 49 of his professional boxing bouts, 43 of them from knockouts. In 1952 he won the world heavyweight title and made six successful title defences.

With a potential re-match looming against Archie Moore, the challenger he had beaten in September 1955, Marciano decided to retire while he was still ahead. He is the only world heavyweight champion to have finished his career unbeaten.

Bobby Jones, one of the most talented and honourable of sportsmen, dominated the world of golf throughout the 1920s, capping his achievements in 1930 by winning all four major championships to become the first single-season Grand Slam winner.

A few months afterwards, aged 28, he retired. Perfect.

As well as his peerless golfing record, Jones also gave sport a conviction of boundless and enduring value: "The rewards of golf, and of life, too, I expect, are worth very little if you don’t play the game by the etiquette as well as by the rules."

Judging by the plaudits she has received from so many of her peers within the last week, Barty appears also to have embraced this vital maxim.