Ash Barty expresses her frustration on constant Naomi Osaka comments despite her World No 1 rank

Former world No 1 Ashleigh Barty breaks her silence about comments and questions about Naomi Osaka before her 2022 Australian Open win.

Ash Barty expresses her frustration on constant Naomi Osaka comments despite her World No 1 rank

Ash Barty and Naomi Osaka (Image via China Daily)

Former world No 1 Ash Barty who announced retirement from the professional circuit in 2022 opened up about how some comments and questions about how if she was the best player on tour back then made her upset and angry. In an interview with Hamish McLachlan in his podcast ’let’s talk’, Barty talked about those instances.

She won Adelaide Open and her home slam that year shutting the people up when she picked up the winner’s title and held onto the No.1 ranking for an entire 121 weeks before Naomi Osaka took over as world No 1.

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There were many comments suggesting that she was not the best on the tour and that Osaka was ahead of the Australian as the Japanese won the slam in 2021. Barty said there was plenty of noise before the slam and people were asking her if she was the best and that pissed her off. ‘”Is Ash the best player in the world?’ And that made me angry. That really p****d’ me off because I know I am the best player in the world,” said Ashleigh.

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Barty won the title without dropping a set and defeated American Danielle Collins in the finals. At the time of her retirement, she was ranked world No 1 with 15 WTA titles with 3 slams and 3 WTA 1000 titles. It turned out that her home slam would be her last title on tour as she surprisingly announced she would be saying goodbye to the sport.

Also Read: Iga Swiatek’s father admits the World No. 1 is HALFWAY through her career having taken notes from the early retirement decision of Ash Barty

What has Ash Barty been up to since retiring from tennis?

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Ash Barty (Image via Getty Images)

After saying goodbye to the sport in 2022, Ash Barty has been enjoying her time off court and recently gave birth to her first child, a baby boy on July 4th with her husband Garry Kissick.

She retired at just 25 years of age and has been living comfortably and she seems to have not had any issues transitioning into a ‘’normal life’’ from her athlete life of tennis. She said she eventually had a fear and uncertainty of what life would look like after being so focused on tennis.

When asked why she chose to retire from the sport she said she just didn’t have it in her anymore and she didn’t have the emotional drive and the physical drive to be at the top. ‘’I just know physically, I have nothing more to give,’’ said Barty.

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