John McEnroe isn’t proud of Ash Barty.
The American tennis icon says the Aussie’s choice to hold up the racquet and stroll away “hurt the sport”.
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Barty was on high of the world having gained Wimbledon in 2021 after which the Australian Open in 2022, solely to drop the bomb that she was calling time on her tennis profession.
The Aussie seemed like an unstoppable drive and like she might have reigned supreme for years to come back.
But McEnroe says her choice to retire has robbed followers of what might have been an unimaginable rivalry for the ladies’s recreation.
Since the 26-year-old walked away, Polish star Iga Swiatek has taken the mantle of one of the best ladies’s participant on the planet.
Swiatek, 21, dominated the tour in 2022 as she reeled off an unbelievable 37 match winning-streak.
The two nevertheless solely faced-off throughout the online from each other on two events, with Barty holding the 2-0 benefit. Both wins got here earlier than Swiatek actually took flight.
“I think when Ash Barty retired that obviously sent shockwaves because here is a young woman at 25 that had come off winning Wimbledon, then winning the Australian Open and you think ‘Ok she’s going to the US Open in the next year and it’s just a matter of time’,” McEnroe instructed Eurosport.
“Obviously, I hope she’s happy, you never want to see someone walk away from it that young because then you’re like ‘what’s wrong with the women’s game that the No. 1 player walked away from the game aged 25’? We had that issue too because my buddy and my rival Bjorn Borg walked away and never played a major after 25. It would hurt me, and my career, I believe.”
The seven-time Grand Slam winners says with out having the rivalry with Barty, Swiatek’s profession may very well be hampered.
“Just not having that rival, I believe it hurts the sport,” he stated.
“And there’s reasons that we can’t get into, there are a lot of reasons, there’s never one reason, and there’s no one for Ash Barty either, but hopefully everyone will look at things to make sure that these women on the tour are being taken care of to the best of their ability so they feel as comfortable as possible doing their thing.”
The 21-year-old who has three Grand Slam titles to her title enters the Australian Open because the pink sizzling favorite so as to add to her already spectacular trophy cupboard.
McEnroe says she’s comfortably the participant to beat, however has warned her about overloading her calendar.
“I think right now she’s by far and away the best player, she’s a fantastic athlete, I don’t think I’ve ever seen a young woman get slide into the corners, it reminds me of Novak quite a bit,” he added.
“So I would be surprised if she didn’t win a couple more French Opens at least, and she’s learned to play on hard courts so there’s no question that she’s the favourite in every tournament she plays. She’s got to be careful with her schedule, I don’t think she’ll go on 37-match winning streaks as much because now obviously people are going to be gunning for her more, but I’ll be very surprised if she doesn’t win a bunch more majors.”
McEnroe gained’t be in Aussie followers ears this season after he wasn’t delivered to Australia by his employer ESPN.
He has been an everyday within the commentary sales space and facilitator of on-court interviews however gained’t be on Australian screens.
However, two-time Australian Open winner Jim Courier will return.
He will be a part of Todd Woodbridge, Lleyton Hewitt, Jelena Dokic, Dylan Alcott, Casey Dellacqua, Sam Smith, Alicia Molik, Mark Philippoussis, Darren Cahill and Peter Psaltis within the commentary sales space.
