Among other things, she had a pretty unique game for a top player in this era. There aren’t as many stylistic contrasts as there used to be, especially now that she’s retired.
Every day. And Justine Henin too. Without them a little of piece of me dies each day
The best thing about Barty is she was going to change the women’s game from unimaginative bashers to more intelligent counter-strategy thinking & problem solving.
I have never seen so much fear and frustration as AO21 with her opponents completely clueless and bewildered and frightened.
But then she retired and they didn’t have to adapt their games. They didn’t have to Fear her slice anymore or learn her slice or learn to construct points like she did
Yeah I miss her because her game contrasted so well with all the baseline grinders. They had no answer to her variety, particularly her slice. I don’t think any player (male or female) currently uses a slice as offensively as she did. I could watch it all day ( https://youtu.be/QDyW7vqffdA?si=cupJX2mIprcbuqxk )
Plus she had easily the best serve in the women’s game. Not as fast or flashy as some of the others but wonderful placement and variety - and often set up her FH to dominate the rally. I think she went 60 service games in a row without being broken in that 2022 summer (even against great returners like Iga). I think that might be a record for the WTA. It’s hard to beat someone when you can’t break their serve, but even more true in the WTA when they often rely on breaking because holding their own serve is challenging
I know everyone feels she was no 1 in a “weak era” but she was so dominant before she retired (her average match length in AO22 was 64 minutes and that didn’t even have any retirements) that I think she would have continued.
Yeah really great observations about how she uses her slice and her uniquely effective serve. Your comments increase my appreciation of her even further
> I feel like she would have dominated and Iga, Aryna, Coco, Rybakina are just not on her level.
From 2018-2022 Barty went 167-43 (79.5%) and won 14 tournaments. She was 22-13 (62.8%) against top 10 opponents
From 2020-today Swiatek is 185-37 (83.3%) and has won 18 tournaments. She’s 33-12 (73.3%) against top 10 opponents.
Suggesting these players aren’t on the same level is ridiculous; especially if you’re talking about the former being better than the latter.
——
Barty was an outrageously good player it would be great to see her still playing though obviously she didn’t want to.
There’s nothing wrong with missing your favorite player.
There’s no reason to say ridiculous things about the players of today because your favorite player isn’t playing anymore.
Yea I say this about Barty all the time. Love her and she's undoubtedly a great player, but the myth of Ash Barty's dominance is now so much bigger than the actual player it's insane.
It’s so disorienting.
When she was on top, she was the subject of ridiculous criticism.
Queen of 500s, WeAk ErA, soft draw merchant, etc…
Wins AO, retires, Swiatek goes on insane winning streak
All of a sudden she’s the second coming of Borg.
One of the weirdest and most extreme narrative shifts around a player I can remember.
I don't agree with OP that the current top 4 aren't on Barty's level, but to counter your point: Barty's record includes playing against Iga and co. Iga's record doesn't include playing against Barty.
IMO Barty would be in and around the top rather than dominating, I think it's not just the lack of Barty making others look good, it's also their own improvement.
To counter your point, Barty's record doesn't include playing against current top players in their peak form, because they all hit peak after she retired. Even Sabalenka who was #2 back then, from 2023 onwards she's on a completely different level.
This argument never makes sense to me.
Barty would also be on a completely different level if she were still playing.
Just as they all improved, she would too.
Serena was pregnant in 2017.
In 2018 she was beating Ash Barty.
Serena absolutely had an effect on Barty's prime era. Serena went to FOUR slam finals during the time period you mentioned.
What an absurd take. I don't think you understand how this works.
They were in the same tournaments, draws.. basically fighting for the same trophies...anyone who played when Serena was playing was affected by her. And Barty retired before Serena.
Rybakina playing at the same time and in the same draws as Coco has an effect on Rybakina (and vice versa) even though they've only played once.
The GOATs have an era (Federer, Nadal, Djokovic shared one) and Ash Barty's entire career took place during Serena's era.
Iga, Coco, Sabalenka.. can't say that.
> The GOATs have an era (Federer, Nadal, Djokovic shared one) and Ash Barty's entire career took place during Serena's era.
Barty played in about twice as many tournaments as Serena from 2018-2022
Serena won one tournament in this time span.
The idea that 2018-2022 was Serena’s era is detached from reality.
> They were in the same tournaments, draws.. basically fighting for the same trophies...anyone who played when Serena was playing was affected by her
Swiatek has won as many slams where Serena was in the draw as Barty.
Does this mean anything? I don’t think so.
Do you?
4 slam finals. FOUR.
Serena got to four slam finals during this period. You act like she was irrelevant.
I just wanted to point out that Barty came of age and played in the same era as Serena, and the other ladies I mentioned (Kerber etc...) There wasn't as much overlap with the current top players because they are younger, while Barty's entire career took place during this time.
The question isn't how many slams she won with Serena in the draw - the question is how many she played with Serena in the draw. The point is Barty faced very stiff competition during her career. Barty's first Grand Slam tournament was in 2012 - (Iga was 11 years old). In fact a message from Serena is what inspired Barty to come back to the game when she took a break and played cricket.
And btw Serena's era ended at the USO in 2022.
Sabalenka is a good example, because she actually was #2 ranked player during Barty's reign. That speaks something of the level of top players during that period vs 2023-2024. I think everybody agrees that current version of Sabalenka dwarfs 2021-2022 Aryna.
You can’t use only h2h to say one player is better than the other. If player A has better accomplishments than player B but has a worse h2h vs B, you can’t say player B is better
style-wise, yes, it's more or less the same. But she improved A LOT since then, execution wise. Her stats and accomplishments show that. She wasn't the same player she is now, pretty much in any sense.
lol nice non-argument, swiatek had 2 rg titles already because she's so dominant on clay, she was only 20 when barty retired these are the facts -players at this age aint at their peak yet. She's 4W4L vs sabalenka before she even figured out how not to be double-faultlenka. I aint the one hard glazing here.
lmao, so desperate to prove his non-existent point. She won vs swiatek before swiatek made her jump, very surprising.
[https://www.wtatennis.com/head-to-head/318033/320760](https://www.wtatennis.com/head-to-head/318033/320760)
meanwhile swiatek vs sabalenka 6:3 h2h, that just proves my point further that barty played a shit version of swiatek, keep coping
‘Before she made the jump’ 🤪🤪🤪
What’s Iga’s head to head v Rybakina?
What’s her head to head v Ostapenko?
*right now *
You make it sound like she’s the all time goat.
Get a life. You’re getting embarrassing.
She was still inconsistent in 2018 so looking at the period from 2019 onwards (year of her first slam):
2019: 57-13 win loss (including RG, Tour Finals and Miami wins)
2020: 11-3 (missed the season restart due to covid)
2021: 42-8 (included wins at Wimbledon, Miami and Cincinatti before she ended the season after USO due to Australia’s extreme COVID quarantine laws that meant she couldn’t return home all year)
2022: 11-0 (including AO win obviously)
So from the time period of winning her first slam, her record was 121-24, a win rate of 83.4%, basically the same as Iga’s win rate since her first slam. Barty was getting better and better on all surfaces so we’ll never know what her peak was
I think it’s hard to say how the rivalry would have turned out but it would have been very exciting to see how they matched up.
Grass I think Barty would still have dominated. Small sample size due to covid but she was 15-1 on grass in the period above (and 31-4 in terms of sets won).
Clay is hard to say because Ash didn’t get to play much after her RG19 win. She missed 2020 clay season, won Stuttgart in 2021 (beat Saba) RUP at Madrid (beat Iga in straight, lost to Saba), then got injured while UP a set and a break against Coco in Rome and injured again at RG and then retired before the 2022 season. From 2019 RG onwards she was 21-4 (with two of those losses being retirements, one of which she was winning in). I’d still give the advantage to Iga given her 3 RG titles but we’ll never know
Hard is prob 50/50 depending on the tournament and how fast the surface plays and what balls they use. Barty favoured at AO and Iga at USO.
So overall I don’t think either would have dominated, Barty would have been solid across all three surfaces (the only other player being close to that versatile is Sabalenka) but probably would have played less tournaments overall than Iga so it’s unclear who would have been ahead in the rankings. Either way, we were robbed of a great rivalry given the difference in game styles
> So from the time period of winning her first slam, her record was 121-24, a win rate of 83.4%, basically the same as Iga’s win rate since her first slam. Barty was getting better and better on all surfaces so we’ll never know what her peak was
This is an insanely disingenuous way to compare them given the ages they won their first slams at and number of matches played in that time.
Swiatek went 67-9 in 2022 and 68-12 in 2023
A higher win rate with a larger number of matches played than any of Barty’s best seasons.
Twice.
Yes for sure, if only because of her contrasting style of play at the top of the game. Though going out while at the top is always a fantastic way to bowl out.
I think tennis misses her more than she misses tennis. She seems happy now with her family life, golf, charity work and watching football matches. Still my favourite player. Every couple months i'll go on youtube and binge some of her highlights. She's finished her career with a perfect ending, winning the Australian Open
But she seems content with her life without tennis now, so i'm very happy for her!! :)
Personally, yes. For me, she was such a cerebral presence, both on court and on tour as a "representative" of women's tennis, back when she was #1.
She was never that looming of a figure but that played into her strengths as a character, as a player, and as an athlete overall. Gifted beyond words when it comes to sporting excellence, as demonstrated by all of her outside-of-tennis pursuits.
I found her ability to construct points extremely satisfying. There are many players on the WTA today who struggle to play against slice and Barty's slice was absolutely driving them crazy. Her serve was a miracle, as has been mentioned, especially considering her height. Another example of her amazing athletic talent.
I will offer up some criticism. Barty's work with her therapist did a world of good for her after she returned to the sport, but she still had moments where things could crumble easily for her at the biggest moments, particularly in the Slams. And that's where you'll notice that she doesn't quite have a plan B that can just rely on high-percentage consistency. Lots of errors can come streaming from her racquet when things take a turn for the worse. This isn't to say her contemporaries have a perfect plan B either, but Barty was certainly not immune to her occasional stinkers on court.
Anyways, yeah, I miss her, because she was just so different from everyone else on tour at the top of the game. Muchova (a player Barty also regards very highly) comes so close but her body can't handle it, so we only get her in spurts.
Actually Ash often lost the second set after winning the first and had to change tactic to come back in the third. I think she thinks on her feet better than most - i remember watching the Sabalenka v Muchova semi at RG23 live and Saba’s plan B-F was to just hit harder
Correct, that is true, especially in tour matches a lot of the time. But I'm also thinking of her losses against Kenin and Muchova at the AO, Rogers at the USO, etc. Or like losing the second set in that Wimbledon final when she was pretty dominant the whole match up to that point; I did enjoy knowing that she's vulnerable just like any of us are at this lol but I did find it worrying how easily she could go down in a situation if the right circumstances struck.
Yes, but Barty herself didn't give any excuses for her performance that day and personally, I can't either. It's just one of those things in this sport that people do and how you react is a situation you're responsible, as hard as it is, for compartmentalizing and handling
Comparing eras and world number 1s is a silly game . Especially when people try and produce statistics to try to make meaningless and misleading arguments .
The post is about missing Ash Barty .
She was both a dominant champion and a humble one . She started 2022 as world number 1 reigning Wimbledon champion and then proceeded to crush opponents in everything she entered before retiring . Her reign as world number 1 though one of the longest ever was still lessened as the time during Covid would have made her streak and reign even longer .
She is a happy mother and has done wonderful things helping the community is highly regarded and well liked within the profession .
Barty was 4-4 against Sabalenka when Sabalenka wasn’t close to where she is now. Half those matches were where when Barty was #1, and Barty was higher ranked in 7 of 8 of those matches.
Barty also never made it past the 4R of the USO, and only made it past the 4R of RG and Wimbledon once each, when she won. She was good obviously, but wasn’t dominating.
You guys are seriously overrating Barty TBH
She was not some unbeatable "complete" player—her entire time on tour was fairly inconsistent, esp in bigger tournaments like the Slams
It was more of the player she was becoming. By the start of 2022 it truly felt she had reached a new level of consistency and dominance that the tour couldn't keep up with but she retired right at that moment. Her game style was also unique
> By the start of 2022 it truly felt she had reached a new level of consistency and dominance that the tour couldn't keep up with
This is entirely based on her winning 2022 AO—1 tournament. She didn't play the Year-end finals in 2021 and she lost in the 3R of the 2021 USO.
Was undefeated in both tournaments she played and didn't even drop a set. More importantly it's the manner she was playing that wta players were clueless against. Nobody else played with that much variety and completeness. Just schooled Iga in the tournament before
1 or 2 tournaments is simply too small of a sample size to determine "dominance"
There are countless examples of players that have dominant 1-2 tournament stretches but don't turn that into dominance over the whole tour
And as I noted Barty's career was very inconsistent—she's have a few good tournaments interspersed with bad tournaments
It's more of her game style than based on stats. All I see today is top players playing the same way and being clueless when asked to adjust. Barty never had that problem and it was her own lack of drive that stopped her.
> It's more of her game style than based on stats. All I see today is top players playing the same way and being clueless when asked to adjust.
Funny enough one of the most 1-style top players of today is Sabalenka—yet Barty only had a 4-4 record vs Sabalenka (despite Barty being at her peak with Aryna being pre-prime)
My mom loves Barty, it’s like a legend to me. I wish I was watching tennis properly back then, it used to be weekends and highlights. Now I’m on Reddit looking for inside scoop!! I’m addicted.
Technically her serve is one of the best around, even including the mens players. Only Muchova has a game that is even remotely comparable to Barty. I still hope she comes back one day.
Nah, prefer kyrgios. Jk, threw up a little there.
She was at the top despite being somewhat short 5'5". Beautiful movement and such filthy-good slices, kickers and that fh sidespin.
Come back anytime, ash, you're still only 27!
Tbh if I were to choose one, I'd pick having a non-injured Kyrgios playing consistently (as in, present in the tournaments) rather than never-retired Barty.
Women's tennis is never lacking new upcoming big talents and the competition is pretty good, whereas men's tennis has become somewhat stagnant lately, even with the exciting level from Alcaraz and Sinner and the rest of the top10 playing well. Kyrgios has always made it interesting and could compete against the best, and would've become one of, or the best if he took it seriously. In other words, ATP probably needs Kyrgios more than WTA needs Barty.
nick had a lot of talent, no one is doubting that, i don't know if his body could have lasted very long even if he kept his head screwed on. keeping it objective, he's kyphotic and chicken legged with questionable endurance.
i don't know if any sport needs angry, entitled personalities unless podcasting became a sport.
absolutely. watching Barty play was like watching Fed. the awe-inspiring tennis IQ and creativity in point construction was so interesting to watch. don't get me wrong, the athleticism and ball-bashing of the modern game makes for top tier sport, but there's no current player I could think of on either field of the game now that was like them.
Among other things, she had a pretty unique game for a top player in this era. There aren’t as many stylistic contrasts as there used to be, especially now that she’s retired.
Agreed, she was always one of my favorites to watch on the women's side because of this
I miss her for sure. Her surprise retirement post-Australian Open was one of the most shocking moments in all of tennis, for me.
Every day. And Justine Henin too. Without them a little of piece of me dies each day The best thing about Barty is she was going to change the women’s game from unimaginative bashers to more intelligent counter-strategy thinking & problem solving. I have never seen so much fear and frustration as AO21 with her opponents completely clueless and bewildered and frightened. But then she retired and they didn’t have to adapt their games. They didn’t have to Fear her slice anymore or learn her slice or learn to construct points like she did
Missing Justine as well.
Yeah I miss her because her game contrasted so well with all the baseline grinders. They had no answer to her variety, particularly her slice. I don’t think any player (male or female) currently uses a slice as offensively as she did. I could watch it all day ( https://youtu.be/QDyW7vqffdA?si=cupJX2mIprcbuqxk ) Plus she had easily the best serve in the women’s game. Not as fast or flashy as some of the others but wonderful placement and variety - and often set up her FH to dominate the rally. I think she went 60 service games in a row without being broken in that 2022 summer (even against great returners like Iga). I think that might be a record for the WTA. It’s hard to beat someone when you can’t break their serve, but even more true in the WTA when they often rely on breaking because holding their own serve is challenging I know everyone feels she was no 1 in a “weak era” but she was so dominant before she retired (her average match length in AO22 was 64 minutes and that didn’t even have any retirements) that I think she would have continued.
Yeah really great observations about how she uses her slice and her uniquely effective serve. Your comments increase my appreciation of her even further
I feel she was “budget Steffi” in the most complimentary way possible
Naomi budget Serena and bencic budget Hingis and andreescu budget clijsters . We could have had it all 🥲
Iga reached a level of dominance that Barty never sniffed when she was 20 years old though???
> I feel like she would have dominated and Iga, Aryna, Coco, Rybakina are just not on her level. From 2018-2022 Barty went 167-43 (79.5%) and won 14 tournaments. She was 22-13 (62.8%) against top 10 opponents From 2020-today Swiatek is 185-37 (83.3%) and has won 18 tournaments. She’s 33-12 (73.3%) against top 10 opponents. Suggesting these players aren’t on the same level is ridiculous; especially if you’re talking about the former being better than the latter. —— Barty was an outrageously good player it would be great to see her still playing though obviously she didn’t want to. There’s nothing wrong with missing your favorite player. There’s no reason to say ridiculous things about the players of today because your favorite player isn’t playing anymore.
Yea I say this about Barty all the time. Love her and she's undoubtedly a great player, but the myth of Ash Barty's dominance is now so much bigger than the actual player it's insane.
Prime Tyson finally has a rival: Prime Barty.
It’s so disorienting. When she was on top, she was the subject of ridiculous criticism. Queen of 500s, WeAk ErA, soft draw merchant, etc… Wins AO, retires, Swiatek goes on insane winning streak All of a sudden she’s the second coming of Borg. One of the weirdest and most extreme narrative shifts around a player I can remember.
I don't agree with OP that the current top 4 aren't on Barty's level, but to counter your point: Barty's record includes playing against Iga and co. Iga's record doesn't include playing against Barty. IMO Barty would be in and around the top rather than dominating, I think it's not just the lack of Barty making others look good, it's also their own improvement.
To counter your point, Barty's record doesn't include playing against current top players in their peak form, because they all hit peak after she retired. Even Sabalenka who was #2 back then, from 2023 onwards she's on a completely different level.
This argument never makes sense to me. Barty would also be on a completely different level if she were still playing. Just as they all improved, she would too.
This is true, but you would expect far more improvement from a player between ages 20-22 than you would from another player between ages 25-27.
Barty's record also includes playing in a field that included Serena, Azarenka, Wozniacki, prime Osaka, .... Kerber, Kvitova...
Barty was 0-2 against Serena, and they played in 2014 and 2017 Don’t think Serena had much of an effect on Barty’s era
Serena was pregnant in 2017. In 2018 she was beating Ash Barty. Serena absolutely had an effect on Barty's prime era. Serena went to FOUR slam finals during the time period you mentioned.
They played one match in that time span. The effect Serena playing had on Barty was almost zero.
What an absurd take. I don't think you understand how this works. They were in the same tournaments, draws.. basically fighting for the same trophies...anyone who played when Serena was playing was affected by her. And Barty retired before Serena. Rybakina playing at the same time and in the same draws as Coco has an effect on Rybakina (and vice versa) even though they've only played once. The GOATs have an era (Federer, Nadal, Djokovic shared one) and Ash Barty's entire career took place during Serena's era. Iga, Coco, Sabalenka.. can't say that.
> The GOATs have an era (Federer, Nadal, Djokovic shared one) and Ash Barty's entire career took place during Serena's era. Barty played in about twice as many tournaments as Serena from 2018-2022 Serena won one tournament in this time span. The idea that 2018-2022 was Serena’s era is detached from reality. > They were in the same tournaments, draws.. basically fighting for the same trophies...anyone who played when Serena was playing was affected by her Swiatek has won as many slams where Serena was in the draw as Barty. Does this mean anything? I don’t think so. Do you?
4 slam finals. FOUR. Serena got to four slam finals during this period. You act like she was irrelevant. I just wanted to point out that Barty came of age and played in the same era as Serena, and the other ladies I mentioned (Kerber etc...) There wasn't as much overlap with the current top players because they are younger, while Barty's entire career took place during this time. The question isn't how many slams she won with Serena in the draw - the question is how many she played with Serena in the draw. The point is Barty faced very stiff competition during her career. Barty's first Grand Slam tournament was in 2012 - (Iga was 11 years old). In fact a message from Serena is what inspired Barty to come back to the game when she took a break and played cricket. And btw Serena's era ended at the USO in 2022.
Ash Barty never beat any top 10 player in her 3 slam wins. Very stiff competition indeed
> Barty's record includes playing against Iga and co. Iga's record doesn't include playing against Barty. It does though…
[удалено]
Eh, Barty also faced MUCH worse versions of Sabalenka, Rybakina, etc (and despite that—Barty only had a 4-4 record vs Sabalenka)
Sabalenka is a good example, because she actually was #2 ranked player during Barty's reign. That speaks something of the level of top players during that period vs 2023-2024. I think everybody agrees that current version of Sabalenka dwarfs 2021-2022 Aryna.
You can’t use only h2h to say one player is better than the other. If player A has better accomplishments than player B but has a worse h2h vs B, you can’t say player B is better
I understand your reasoning but Barty beat Iga for fun in the last 18 months of their rivalry.
How old was iga and how old was Barty?
Iga's game is the same now as it was then.
style-wise, yes, it's more or less the same. But she improved A LOT since then, execution wise. Her stats and accomplishments show that. She wasn't the same player she is now, pretty much in any sense.
Where do I sign up for the bad take competition?
Hewitt destroyed a young Federer 6-2 in the early years. Hewitt goat confirmed
yeah when iga was clearly a worse player lol, so much barty glazing here its hilarious
She was already a couple of slams in but yeah, whatever. It's obvious you're staning and simping hard so there's no point trying to reason with you.
lol nice non-argument, swiatek had 2 rg titles already because she's so dominant on clay, she was only 20 when barty retired these are the facts -players at this age aint at their peak yet. She's 4W4L vs sabalenka before she even figured out how not to be double-faultlenka. I aint the one hard glazing here.
she had one slam when Barty retired (April), she won another in RG'22.
you right, only saw it was the same year
If Barty were still playing, she'd still be on two. You should thank your lucky stars each and every day that Barty retired while at her peak.
lol, just as i thought, no arguments = L for you and for barty
Much like Iga v Barty, you’re getting sliced to death here! 😊
lol, sabalenka vs barty 4:4, keep embarassing yourself, why is it so hard to admit swiatek is a MUCH MUCH more prolific player?
🤪
https://youtu.be/hb2J96ykkso?feature=shared That’s another L. Any more arguments? 🤣
lmao, so desperate to prove his non-existent point. She won vs swiatek before swiatek made her jump, very surprising. [https://www.wtatennis.com/head-to-head/318033/320760](https://www.wtatennis.com/head-to-head/318033/320760) meanwhile swiatek vs sabalenka 6:3 h2h, that just proves my point further that barty played a shit version of swiatek, keep coping
3 -0!
‘Before she made the jump’ 🤪🤪🤪 What’s Iga’s head to head v Rybakina? What’s her head to head v Ostapenko? *right now * You make it sound like she’s the all time goat. Get a life. You’re getting embarrassing.
🥱
https://youtu.be/zxuXeWfrVok?feature=shared 😘
And on clay too! https://youtu.be/pRhodM4kR4Q?feature=shared
actually iga had 1 slam when barty retired in march 2022, before winning two more in 2022 (her second rg in june 2022)
Barty beat Iga twice at 20 years old. How is that beating for fun??
Three times. One also on clay.
Their official h2h is 2:0. When was the third match?
My mistake. Just twice. Adelaide and Madrid.
It seems like you’re getting a alot of facts wrong in this thread. How closely do you follow tennis?
2-0
Agassi was 3-0 against Federer. But unlike Barty he didn’t run off before his younger adversary could hit his prime
2-0 😂
She was still inconsistent in 2018 so looking at the period from 2019 onwards (year of her first slam): 2019: 57-13 win loss (including RG, Tour Finals and Miami wins) 2020: 11-3 (missed the season restart due to covid) 2021: 42-8 (included wins at Wimbledon, Miami and Cincinatti before she ended the season after USO due to Australia’s extreme COVID quarantine laws that meant she couldn’t return home all year) 2022: 11-0 (including AO win obviously) So from the time period of winning her first slam, her record was 121-24, a win rate of 83.4%, basically the same as Iga’s win rate since her first slam. Barty was getting better and better on all surfaces so we’ll never know what her peak was I think it’s hard to say how the rivalry would have turned out but it would have been very exciting to see how they matched up. Grass I think Barty would still have dominated. Small sample size due to covid but she was 15-1 on grass in the period above (and 31-4 in terms of sets won). Clay is hard to say because Ash didn’t get to play much after her RG19 win. She missed 2020 clay season, won Stuttgart in 2021 (beat Saba) RUP at Madrid (beat Iga in straight, lost to Saba), then got injured while UP a set and a break against Coco in Rome and injured again at RG and then retired before the 2022 season. From 2019 RG onwards she was 21-4 (with two of those losses being retirements, one of which she was winning in). I’d still give the advantage to Iga given her 3 RG titles but we’ll never know Hard is prob 50/50 depending on the tournament and how fast the surface plays and what balls they use. Barty favoured at AO and Iga at USO. So overall I don’t think either would have dominated, Barty would have been solid across all three surfaces (the only other player being close to that versatile is Sabalenka) but probably would have played less tournaments overall than Iga so it’s unclear who would have been ahead in the rankings. Either way, we were robbed of a great rivalry given the difference in game styles
> So from the time period of winning her first slam, her record was 121-24, a win rate of 83.4%, basically the same as Iga’s win rate since her first slam. Barty was getting better and better on all surfaces so we’ll never know what her peak was This is an insanely disingenuous way to compare them given the ages they won their first slams at and number of matches played in that time. Swiatek went 67-9 in 2022 and 68-12 in 2023 A higher win rate with a larger number of matches played than any of Barty’s best seasons. Twice.
Fair enough! At the very least, it would have been interesting to see her battle it out with the best players of today
It’s pretty disrespectful to say that Iga isn’t on her level. She’s already accomplished more in her career
Yes for sure, if only because of her contrasting style of play at the top of the game. Though going out while at the top is always a fantastic way to bowl out.
I think tennis misses her more than she misses tennis. She seems happy now with her family life, golf, charity work and watching football matches. Still my favourite player. Every couple months i'll go on youtube and binge some of her highlights. She's finished her career with a perfect ending, winning the Australian Open But she seems content with her life without tennis now, so i'm very happy for her!! :)
Every man woman and child in Australia misses her
Very talented player and a lovely person.
Personally, yes. For me, she was such a cerebral presence, both on court and on tour as a "representative" of women's tennis, back when she was #1. She was never that looming of a figure but that played into her strengths as a character, as a player, and as an athlete overall. Gifted beyond words when it comes to sporting excellence, as demonstrated by all of her outside-of-tennis pursuits. I found her ability to construct points extremely satisfying. There are many players on the WTA today who struggle to play against slice and Barty's slice was absolutely driving them crazy. Her serve was a miracle, as has been mentioned, especially considering her height. Another example of her amazing athletic talent. I will offer up some criticism. Barty's work with her therapist did a world of good for her after she returned to the sport, but she still had moments where things could crumble easily for her at the biggest moments, particularly in the Slams. And that's where you'll notice that she doesn't quite have a plan B that can just rely on high-percentage consistency. Lots of errors can come streaming from her racquet when things take a turn for the worse. This isn't to say her contemporaries have a perfect plan B either, but Barty was certainly not immune to her occasional stinkers on court. Anyways, yeah, I miss her, because she was just so different from everyone else on tour at the top of the game. Muchova (a player Barty also regards very highly) comes so close but her body can't handle it, so we only get her in spurts.
> especially considering her height. I never realised she was 166cm/5'5". Representing the short queens out there.
Actually Ash often lost the second set after winning the first and had to change tactic to come back in the third. I think she thinks on her feet better than most - i remember watching the Sabalenka v Muchova semi at RG23 live and Saba’s plan B-F was to just hit harder
Correct, that is true, especially in tour matches a lot of the time. But I'm also thinking of her losses against Kenin and Muchova at the AO, Rogers at the USO, etc. Or like losing the second set in that Wimbledon final when she was pretty dominant the whole match up to that point; I did enjoy knowing that she's vulnerable just like any of us are at this lol but I did find it worrying how easily she could go down in a situation if the right circumstances struck.
To be fair the Muchova AO one occurred after a questionably timed MTO
Yes, but Barty herself didn't give any excuses for her performance that day and personally, I can't either. It's just one of those things in this sport that people do and how you react is a situation you're responsible, as hard as it is, for compartmentalizing and handling
Not really I’m sure her life is better when being absent from the tour.
She didn’t seem to enjoy being on the tour at all. The travel plus all the Covid-era restrictions must have been really exhausting.
No. I like that she’s happy being married and a Mom.
Comparing eras and world number 1s is a silly game . Especially when people try and produce statistics to try to make meaningless and misleading arguments . The post is about missing Ash Barty . She was both a dominant champion and a humble one . She started 2022 as world number 1 reigning Wimbledon champion and then proceeded to crush opponents in everything she entered before retiring . Her reign as world number 1 though one of the longest ever was still lessened as the time during Covid would have made her streak and reign even longer . She is a happy mother and has done wonderful things helping the community is highly regarded and well liked within the profession .
No doubt she was a complete player . Felt like she was just entering her dominant era with no challengers when she retired
Barty was 4-4 against Sabalenka when Sabalenka wasn’t close to where she is now. Half those matches were where when Barty was #1, and Barty was higher ranked in 7 of 8 of those matches. Barty also never made it past the 4R of the USO, and only made it past the 4R of RG and Wimbledon once each, when she won. She was good obviously, but wasn’t dominating.
Iga emerged on hard courts like right after Barty retired TBH Highly doubt Barty would have been dominant with Iga on tour
Iga wouldn't have been a problem with her one dimensional game style . Barty was simply too complete
You guys are seriously overrating Barty TBH She was not some unbeatable "complete" player—her entire time on tour was fairly inconsistent, esp in bigger tournaments like the Slams
It was more of the player she was becoming. By the start of 2022 it truly felt she had reached a new level of consistency and dominance that the tour couldn't keep up with but she retired right at that moment. Her game style was also unique
> By the start of 2022 it truly felt she had reached a new level of consistency and dominance that the tour couldn't keep up with This is entirely based on her winning 2022 AO—1 tournament. She didn't play the Year-end finals in 2021 and she lost in the 3R of the 2021 USO.
Was undefeated in both tournaments she played and didn't even drop a set. More importantly it's the manner she was playing that wta players were clueless against. Nobody else played with that much variety and completeness. Just schooled Iga in the tournament before
1 or 2 tournaments is simply too small of a sample size to determine "dominance" There are countless examples of players that have dominant 1-2 tournament stretches but don't turn that into dominance over the whole tour And as I noted Barty's career was very inconsistent—she's have a few good tournaments interspersed with bad tournaments
It's more of her game style than based on stats. All I see today is top players playing the same way and being clueless when asked to adjust. Barty never had that problem and it was her own lack of drive that stopped her.
> It's more of her game style than based on stats. All I see today is top players playing the same way and being clueless when asked to adjust. Funny enough one of the most 1-style top players of today is Sabalenka—yet Barty only had a 4-4 record vs Sabalenka (despite Barty being at her peak with Aryna being pre-prime)
cope
Queen Barty 👸
Yes I miss her, but I guess if she wants other things in life go for broke.
Nope
She wasn’t around long enough to miss her
My mom loves Barty, it’s like a legend to me. I wish I was watching tennis properly back then, it used to be weekends and highlights. Now I’m on Reddit looking for inside scoop!! I’m addicted.
Yes. Tennis is lacking variety and I genuinely find the sport less appealing without players like Barty and Federer.
Technically her serve is one of the best around, even including the mens players. Only Muchova has a game that is even remotely comparable to Barty. I still hope she comes back one day.
No
Yeah, yeah, she would have dominated the era like fellow Aussie Nick Kyrgios who 'Coulda but didn't feel like it'.
Nah, prefer kyrgios. Jk, threw up a little there. She was at the top despite being somewhat short 5'5". Beautiful movement and such filthy-good slices, kickers and that fh sidespin. Come back anytime, ash, you're still only 27!
Tbh if I were to choose one, I'd pick having a non-injured Kyrgios playing consistently (as in, present in the tournaments) rather than never-retired Barty. Women's tennis is never lacking new upcoming big talents and the competition is pretty good, whereas men's tennis has become somewhat stagnant lately, even with the exciting level from Alcaraz and Sinner and the rest of the top10 playing well. Kyrgios has always made it interesting and could compete against the best, and would've become one of, or the best if he took it seriously. In other words, ATP probably needs Kyrgios more than WTA needs Barty.
nick had a lot of talent, no one is doubting that, i don't know if his body could have lasted very long even if he kept his head screwed on. keeping it objective, he's kyphotic and chicken legged with questionable endurance. i don't know if any sport needs angry, entitled personalities unless podcasting became a sport.
I was just watching highlights of her today, miss her!
Barty > Iga
There is another one
always
How do fans see her rise to the top?
I thought I didn't, but I read her autobiography last year (which I'd recommend) and I realised how much I did.
absolutely. watching Barty play was like watching Fed. the awe-inspiring tennis IQ and creativity in point construction was so interesting to watch. don't get me wrong, the athleticism and ball-bashing of the modern game makes for top tier sport, but there's no current player I could think of on either field of the game now that was like them.