“One of the great champions and ambassador for the sport” WTA Chief Steve Simon pays tribute to Ash Barty on her retirement, says the Tour ‘will miss her’
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Ash Barty and Steve Simon
World No. 1 on the WTA Tour for 112 consecutive weeks, Ash Barty has shocked the entire world by announcing retirement from the sport at the age of 25. The 3-time Grand Slam champion announced her shocking decision on the 23rd of March through a video on her official Instagram handle saying goodbye to the sport forever.
Barty had been one of the most successful players on the Tour since the past few seasons finishing as the World No. 1 at the end of the year for every year since 2019. She claimed 3 Grand Slam titles during the period while also winning the Year-End Championships and cementing her place at the top of the rankings being the top-ranked player consecutively for more than 2 years.
As Barty announces her retirement, WTA Chief Steve Simon issued a press release of the tennis governing body highlighting some of the biggest achievements of Barty’s career and also giving his personal opinion on a fantastic career that has come to an end on the WTA Tour.
“Ashleigh Barty with her signature slice backhand, complemented by being the ultimate competitor, has always led by example through the unwavering professionalism and sportsmanship she brought to every match. With her accomplishments at the Grand Slams, WTA Finals, and reaching the pinnacle ranking of No.1 in the world, she has clearly established herself as one of the great champions of the WTA.
“We wish Ash only the very best and know that she will continue to be a tremendous ambassador for the sport of tennis as she embarks on this new chapter of her life. We will miss her,” said WTA Chairman & CEO Steve Simon.
Some remarkable achievements of Ash Barty’s career
While it is difficult to capture Barty’s entire career, the WTA tried their best to highlight some of the biggest achievements of Barty in their press release. Barty had ended Australia’s wait of 44 years for a singles champion at the Australian Open and it was just one of the big highlight of the Australian’s illustrious career with a few of them mentioned below.
- Since beginning her professional tennis career in 2010, Barty collected 15 singles titles and 12 doubles titles on Tour, the only player to win 15 or more singles titles and 10 or more doubles titles in that time frame.
- The 25-year-old Australian won three Grand Slam singles titles on three different surfaces joining Serena Williams and the trio of Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic to be the only active players then to achieve the feat with her win at the 2022 Australian Open.
- Barty becomes the second reigning World No. 1 ranked woman to retire while gracing the top of the WTA Rankings, as Justine Henin retired on May 14, 2008, after spending 61 consecutive weeks at No. 1.
- Barty, who first climbed to the top of the WTA Rankings on June 24, 2019, has held the top spot for 114 consecutive weeks, the fourth longest streak in Tour history behind Steffi Graf (186 weeks), Serena Williams (186) and Martina Navratilova (156). Overall, Barty has held the No. 1 ranking for 121 weeks, the seventh most in Tour history.
- After a two-year hiatus from tennis (2014-16), Barty returned to the Tour full-time in 2017. During the next five years, Barty posted a 188-56 record at Tour-level events for a 77.0% match win percentage. Only Serena Williams (79-22, 78.2%) owned a higher percentage in the last five years.
- Barty finished as the WTA Player of the Year in 2019 and 2021 claiming big titles during the two seasons.
Also Read: Who is Casey Dellacqua, the one who took Ash Barty’s retirement video?
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Sarthak Shitole
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