Barty hits triple figures as world #1!

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As of this week, Ash Barty joins a select group of just 8 players who have reached triple figures in the WTA number #1 rankings. They are:

Weeks ranked at #1:

1. Steffi Graf - 377
2. Martina Navratilova - 332
3. Serena Williams - 319
4. Chris Evert - 260
5. Martina Hingis - 209
6. Monica Seles - 178
7. Justine Henin - 117
8. Ashleigh Barty - 100

 

[Aussie Darcy]

I know most comments will reference Covid as a big thanks to this and it is a factor but she leads the tour with titles won this year with 5 titles across all surfaces:
Yarra Valley - hard
Miami - hard
Stuttgart -clay
Wimbledon - grass
Cincinnatti - hard

That's a slam, 2 Masters/WTA1000 plus 2 WTA500's.

Her 2019 which cemented her top spot was also pretty darn good:
Sydney final
Aus Open SF
Miami title
French Open title
Birmingham title
Beijing final
WTA Finals title

She's the best player on the tour and all she's accomplished this year considering she hadn't been to Australia to see family due to Covid restrictions since February is a huge deal.

 

[Bubcay]

As of this week, Ash Barty joins a select group of just 8 players who have reached triple figures in the WTA number #1 rankings. They are:

Weeks ranked at #1:

1. Steffi Graf - 377
2. Martina Navratilova - 332
3. Serena Williams - 319
4. Chris Evert - 260
5. Martina Hingis - 209
6. Monica Seles - 178
7. Justine Henin - 117
8. Ashleigh Barty - 100

Aussie, Ausie, Ausie - Oi, Oi, Oi...

 

[Kralingen]

I say this as someone who likes Barty - it’s a bit shocking and off putting to see her up there with all those absolute giants and all time greats of the game.

 

[Mediterranean Might]

I say this as someone who likes Barty - it’s a bit shocking and off putting to see her up there with all those absolute giants and all time greats of the game.

Yep, plus one here. She’s great but it just shows how inconsistent the rest of the tour is. I’m hoping she racks up at least a few more slams and it becomes a moot point lol

 

[AnOctorokForDinner]

The fact Barty is about to have more weeks at #1 than anyone but the absolute GOATs + would-be GOAT, and Hingis, says something very poignant about the strength of this era. What is it with an Aussie being the foremost hoarder on either tour.

 

[Booger]

So why is Radacanunununu getting all the modeling gigs and endorsement deals? No hype for Barty?

 

[pj80]

I know most comments will reference Covid as a big thanks to this and it is a factor but she leads the tour with titles won this year with 5 titles across all surfaces:
Yarra Valley - hard
Miami - hard
Stuttgart -clay
Wimbledon - grass
Cincinnatti - hard

That's a slam, 2 Masters/WTA1000 plus 2 WTA500's.

Her 2019 which cemented her top spot was also pretty darn good:
Sydney final
Aus Open SF
Miami title
French Open title
Birmingham title
Beijing final
WTA Finals title

She's the best player on the tour and all she's accomplished this year considering she hadn't been to Australia to see family due to Covid restrictions since February is a huge deal.

she accomplished more weeks in 2020 while never leaving Australia though

 

[MichaelNadal]

I say this as someone who likes Barty - it’s a bit shocking and off putting to see her up there with all those absolute giants and all time greats of the game.

Exactly. Venus got 11 weeks, this is some straight up BS!

 

[Jason Swerve]

I say this as someone who likes Barty - it’s a bit shocking and off putting to see her up there with all those absolute giants and all time greats of the game.

The WTA tour has become a joke. Come on, laugh. It's wonderful.

 

[RaulRamirez]

Exactly. Venus got 11 weeks, this is some straight up BS!

But it's just one category.
I don't think many, if any, tennis fans would consider Barty's career (as of now) to be of the same magnitude as Venus's.

It is a bit hard to believe that Venus only held it for 11 weeks. But, this is an objective stat.

 

[Jason Swerve]

Exactly. Venus got 11 weeks, this is some straight up BS!

You see, Venus had to play tennis, however. Worse still, she and a few others were born just a tad too early, and so they fought real completion. Don't even get us started on Seles, being stabbed and then having her cohort jury whether she should keep her ranking. These days, we let the #1 have a nice, comfy 365-day vacation and keep her ranking. Then she can yawn and stretch and rejoin us to lose to jokers like Shelby Rogers.

 

[MichaelNadal]

But it's just one category.
I don't think many, if any, tennis fans would consider Barty's career (as of now) to be of the same magnitude as Venus's.

It is a bit hard to believe that Venus only held it for 11 weeks. But, this is an objective stat.

You see, Venus had to play tennis, however. Worse still, she and a few others were born just a tad too early, and so they fought real completion. Don't even get us started on Seles, being stabbed and then having her cohort jury whether she should keep her ranking. These days, we let the #1 have a nice, comfy 365-day vacation and keep her ranking. Then she can yawn and stretch and rejoin us to lose to jokers like Shelby Rogers.

Exactly.
And with Venus in particular, she literally became #1 at the absolute worst time probably ever, right before the Serena slam. All those weeks Serena was #1 for at least the next year or so would have been hers, if not for her own sister hitting one of the biggest peaks in WTA history, right when Venus was on top. (and Venus made 4 slam finals!!!!) just absolute tomfoolery. Heck, there would have been a Venus slam instead!! lol

 

[Aussie Darcy]

Exactly. Venus got 11 weeks, this is some straight up BS!

But it's just one category.
I don't think many, if any, tennis fans would consider Barty's career (as of now) to be of the same magnitude as Venus's.

It is a bit hard to believe that Venus only held it for 11 weeks. But, this is an objective stat.

It's not really a good metric.

Clijsters only got 20 weeks at #1.
Sharapova? 5 slams but only 21 weeks at #1.
Venus, 11 weeks.

Meanwhile Wozniacki got 67 weeks at #1 without a slam.
Safina got 26 consecutive weeks without a slam.

This isn't brand new.

 

[MichaelNadal]

It's not really a good metric.

Clijsters only got 20 weeks at #1.
Sharapova? 5 slams but only 21 weeks at #1.
Venus, 11 weeks.

Meanwhile Wozniacki got 67 weeks at #1 without a slam.
Safina got 26 consecutive weeks without a slam.

This isn't brand new.

And another reason why I value YE#1 over weeks, by far. You can get shafted on weeks by so many freak scenarios.

 

[Kralingen]

Safina got 26 consecutive weeks without a slam.

This isn't brand new.

Obligatory:

 

[Aussie Darcy]

she accomplished more weeks in 2020 while never leaving Australia though

She played til Doha in middle of February.
Rankings were frozen from March til August.
Then there was only tournaments in September and October.

She literally only missed August and September in terms of Cincinnati, US Open, Rome and the French Open. Everything else was Premier or less. There was 1 tournament in October. Just 1.

 

[Aussie Darcy]

And another reason why I value YE#1 over weeks, by far. You can get shafted on weeks by so many freak scenarios.

I mean in saying that, Barty will most likely get her 3rd YE#1 this year unless Sabalenka has a great run to end the year.
Although, looking at 2021, Barty is the clear WTA player of the year.

In terms of the 4 slam champs.
Osaka won the AO and did nothing else
Krejcikova won RG, Strasbourg, Prague, finalist in Dubai, QF in Cincy and Dubai
Barty won Yarra Valley, Miami, Stuttgart, Wimbledon and Cincinnatti.
Raducanu won USO and a 4R at Wimbledon

Nobody really comes close to Barty.
1 slam, 2 WTA1000's, 2 Premier titles + a 1000 runner up

Sabalenka, Muguruza and Swiatek each won 1 WTA1000 and 1 500
Badosa won 1 WTA1000 and 1 250
Krejcikova got a slam and 2 250's

 

[MichaelNadal]

Obligatory:

GOATY af

 

[Jason Swerve]

Exactly.
And with Venus in particular, she literally became #1 at the absolute worst time probably ever, right before the Serena slam. All those weeks Serena was #1 for at least the next year or so would have been hers, if not for her own sister hitting one of the biggest peaks in WTA history, right when Venus was on top. (and Venus made 4 slam finals!!!!) just absolute tomfoolery. Heck, there would have been a Venus slam instead!! lol

Serena at her best would be terrible in this era, don't forget. The game's so much more physical now, and we have an 18 year old who won a Grand Slam from the qualifiers! Watch out!

 

[MichaelNadal]

What an athlete!

 

[Kralingen]

At the very least Barty will never be Wozniacki-level. 2 consecutive YE #1s and she didn’t even make a Slam final in ‘10 or 11. No WTA finals title even. Just a few WTA premier events and being healthy enough to show up to smaller tournaments on time with her rackets strung and clothes packed. Now that was a joke.

Ash is at least a proper Slam champion.

 

[Deleted member 770948]

Barty has a huge chance at Career Grand Slam.
AO will be the hardest, so much pressure, although she's done better there (SF) than at the US Open (R4).
But winning those last 2 matches at the AO will be tougher mentally than winning 7 matches at the US Open.

 

[Wander]

There have been no other consistent top performers on the tour in the last 12 months so Barty kind of deserves the ranking by default. At the end of last year to beginning of this year she certainly tallied up a bunch of weeks for free, but it had to be someone I suppose.

Osaka was the only one who could've really snatched the ranking from Barty at some point this year (she was only about 500 points behind) but she all but stopped playing after pulling out of the FO. Disappointing from a competition point of view.

 

[thrust]

But it's just one category.
I don't think many, if any, tennis fans would consider Barty's career (as of now) to be of the same magnitude as Venus's.

It is a bit hard to believe that Venus only held it for 11 weeks. But, this is an objective stat.

Amazing that Venus only has 11 weeks at #1 and no YE at #1, yet Barty has 100 weeks at #1

 

[itrium84]

I say this as someone who likes Barty - it’s a bit shocking and off putting to see her up there with all those absolute giants and all time greats of the game.

I have the same impression

 

[NoleFam]

She played 2 tournaments last year and didn't win any, ended the year #1. Says all that needs to be said about the WTA rankings and their covid rules. Now if anybody wants to talk abiut an asterisk, that is one.

 

[adil1972]

if i am not mistaken

at last a new thread about WTA in long time

 

[Rosstour]

You see, Venus had to play tennis, however. Worse still, she and a few others were born just a tad too early, and so they fought real completion. Don't even get us started on Seles, being stabbed and then having her cohort jury whether she should keep her ranking. These days, we let the #1 have a nice, comfy 365-day vacation and keep her ranking. Then she can yawn and stretch and rejoin us to lose to jokers like Shelby Rogers.

Yes, the completion was much stronger back in those days.

 

[Azure]

GOATY af

Goaty? Sorry this was plain disrespectful. You can put your point across without being so condescending. Yes, Serena won a ton and when she acknowledged Dinara as number one, she could have done so with a lot more grace. Unfortunately that has never been her forte.

 

[Fabresque]

I mean she deserves it, she is the best player on the WTA tour by a landslide currently.

I think it just shows how weak the WTA is though, at least nowadays.

 

[Kralingen]

Goaty? Sorry this was plain disrespectful. You can put your point across without being so condescending. Yes, Serena won a ton and when she acknowledged Dinara as number one, she could have done so with a lot more grace. Unfortunately that has never been her forte.

To be fair to Serena…

Safina and Serena played the AO ‘09 final earlier that year. The result was Serena 6-0, 6-3, match over in 59 minutes.
and then at Wimbledon ‘09, which Serena won, Venus beat Safina 6-0, 6-1 in the SFs.

Safina was great on clay that year but i kinda lean Serena’s way here. No way a world #1 should be absolutely humiliated with bagels like that.

 

[King No1e]

Major respect to Barty. Consistency is something lacking big time in both tours at the moment, but she's been quietly maintaining at the top without too much fanfare or headline hogging. An absolute class act as well.

Now the question is: can Radu steal her spot?

 

[NoleFam]

To be fair to Serena…

Safina and Serena played the AO ‘09 final earlier that year. The result was Serena 6-0, 6-3, match over in 59 minutes.
and then at Wimbledon ‘09, which Serena won, Venus beat Safina 6-0, 6-1 in the SFs.

Safina was great on clay that year but i kinda lean Serena’s way here. No way a world #1 should be absolutely humiliated with bagels like that.

Before that SF match with Venus, they asked Safina about the #1 ranking and about Venus' status as a player on grass or something along those lines, and Safina gave an adamant answer about she's #1, etc. I can't remember the exact question and the exact answer but I remember it raising my eyebrows a bit. And then they play the match and it's like a jaguar versus a house cat. I've seen Venus play a lot of matches but I don't remember anything like that. It was like she couldn't miss while blasting everything and the serve was lethal. Serena's comment was funny, but looking back it probably was a bit disrespectful. I think she was trying to give a diplomatic answer and one of the journalists was laughing which made her laugh, and then everybody started laughing.

Also, Venus defended Safina in the press conference afterwards when the journalists tried to mock and criticize the fact of Safina being the #1.

 

[puppybutts]

Serena at her best would be terrible in this era, don't forget. The game's so much more physical now, and we have an 18 year old who won a Grand Slam from the qualifiers! Watch out!

huh? serena in this era far from her best literally made 4 grand slam finals and a semi. but she would be terrible?

 

[fluffyyelloballz]

Venus’ era was crazy. She had Hingis and Capriati to contend with in 2001. In 2002, Serena stepped up.
Barty is not facing anyone with even half of what Venus’ no.1 rivals were putting up.
And half is being generous.

 

[Musterrific]

So why is Radacanunununu getting all the modeling gigs and endorsement deals? No hype for Barty?

I think we all know the answer to that.

 

[Azure]

To be fair to Serena…

Safina and Serena played the AO ‘09 final earlier that year. The result was Serena 6-0, 6-3, match over in 59 minutes.
and then at Wimbledon ‘09, which Serena won, Venus beat Safina 6-0, 6-1 in the SFs.

Safina was great on clay that year but i kinda lean Serena’s way here. No way a world #1 should be absolutely humiliated with bagels like that.

Nothing....absolutely nothing justifies being disrespectful.

 

[Azure]

Before that SF match with Venus, they asked Safina about the #1 ranking and about Venus' status as a player on grass or something along those lines, and Safina gave an adamant answer about she's #1, etc. I can't remember the exact question and the exact answer but I remember it raising my eyebrows a bit. And then they play the match and it's like a jaguar versus a house cat. I've seen Venus play a lot of matches but I don't remember anything like that. It was like she couldn't miss while blasting everything and the serve was lethal. Serena's comment was funny, but looking back it probably was a bit disrespectful. I think she was trying to give a diplomatic answer and one of the journalists was laughing which made her laugh, and then everybody started laughing.

Also, Venus defended Safina in the press conference afterwards when the journalists tried to mock and criticize the fact of Safina being the #1.

Venus is a classy lady. I have not heard her being disrespectful in regards to her opponents.

 

[TheAssassin]

I know most comments will reference Covid as a big thanks to this and it is a factor but she leads the tour with titles won this year with 5 titles across all surfaces:
Yarra Valley - hard
Miami - hard
Stuttgart -clay
Wimbledon - grass
Cincinnatti - hard

That's a slam, 2 Masters/WTA1000 plus 2 WTA500's.

Her 2019 which cemented her top spot was also pretty darn good:
Sydney final
Aus Open SF
Miami title
French Open title
Birmingham title
Beijing final
WTA Finals title

She's the best player on the tour and all she's accomplished this year considering she hadn't been to Australia to see family due to Covid restrictions since February is a huge deal.

I think the issue is just with her 2020 YE #1 (although I have no idea who else was in close contention then lol, I'm open to being convinced in anyone's favor). Can't argue against her being the best this year for sure, full season and nobody was close.

 

[King No1e]

I think we all know the answer to that.

It's a bit like how Federer didn't get much endorsements/hype in the beginning either IIRC, until he started paying more attention to his image post-03.
Also, Barty's story hasn't been nearly as exciting as Radu. If Raducanu fades out a year from now, I bet the endorsements will start to dry up too.

 

[Jason Swerve]

Goaty? Sorry this was plain disrespectful. You can put your point across without being so condescending. Yes, Serena won a ton and when she acknowledged Dinara as number one, she could have done so with a lot more grace. Unfortunately that has never been her forte.

It all comes back on people. Serena had her humble moments, and she had her moments like these. This was in mid-'09. Love the lady to death, but she wasn't laughing so hard come that September. Every player ends up receiving their due karma for any crap they put out on the tour.

 

[mike danny]

It all comes back on people. Serena had her humble moments, and she had her moments like these. This was in mid-'09. Love the lady to death, but she wasn't laughing so hard come that September. Every player ends up receiving their due karma for any crap they put out on the tour.

And the funny thing is that karma retribution was caused by Serena's own stupidity.

 

[Frankc]

Well, well done Ashleigh Barty... a joy to watch her all court and varied game - utter talent and graciousness.
Especially significant to win repeatedly within the power dominated baseline game of the WTA tour. Or , as referred to by Sampras himself, "the sameness" of the contemporary game.

 

[Jason Swerve]

huh? serena in this era far from her best literally made 4 grand slam finals and a semi. but she would be terrible?

Of course she wouldn't be terrible. Serena'd be the best around.

And the funny thing is that karma retribution was caused by Serena's own stupidity.

She didn't foot fault, but her reaction was over the top for the call, stupid call or not. Imagine if Hingis had told Graf at the French, she'd "shove the ball down your f-ing throat". Gotta think before you speak.

>> Nevertheless, she was still a better player than Barty by every metric, and this nonsense "record" of Barty's is a stain on what used to be the pinnacle example of women's sport.

 

[MichaelNadal]

Before that SF match with Venus, they asked Safina about the #1 ranking and about Venus' status as a player on grass or something along those lines, and Safina gave an adamant answer about she's #1, etc. I can't remember the exact question and the exact answer but I remember it raising my eyebrows a bit. And then they play the match and it's like a jaguar versus a house cat. I've seen Venus play a lot of matches but I don't remember anything like that. It was like she couldn't miss while blasting everything and the serve was lethal. Serena's comment was funny, but looking back it probably was a bit disrespectful. I think she was trying to give a diplomatic answer and one of the journalists was laughing which made her laugh, and then everybody started laughing.

Also, Venus defended Safina in the press conference afterwards when the journalists tried to mock and criticize the fact of Safina being the #1.

A queen

 

[Aussie Darcy]

She played 2 tournaments last year and didn't win any, ended the year #1. Says all that needs to be said about the WTA rankings and their covid rules. Now if anybody wants to talk abiut an asterisk, that is one.

I don’t know how you do it but you always manage to be wrong.
She didn’t play just 2 tournaments, she played 4 last year and she actually did win 1 of those - she was the champion in Adelaide.

As for her being year end champion. How else would you have worked the rankings considering a literal pandemic happened? The top points in 2020 was 3,394 points for Sofia Kenin. She played 10 tournaments, won 2 of them and had 4 first round exits. Would she be your preferred #1? Or Osaka who also only played 4 tournaments but had the 2nd most points with a whopping 2,900. Should she have been #1?
Barty’s dominant 2019 was why she stayed at the top. Give me an alternative.

 

[NoleFam]

I don’t know how you do it but you always manage to be wrong.
She didn’t play just 2 tournaments, she played 4 last year and she actually did win 1 of those - she was the champion in Adelaide.

As for her being year end champion. How else would you have worked the rankings considering a literal pandemic happened? The top points in 2020 was 3,394 points for Sofia Kenin. She played 10 tournaments, won 2 of them and had 4 first round exits. Would she be your preferred #1? Or Osaka who also only played 4 tournaments but had the 2nd most points with a whopping 2,900. Should she have been #1?
Barty’s dominant 2019 was why she stayed at the top. Give me an alternative.

Oh my bad. She played 4 tournaments, one where she had a bye and lost in the 2nd round and won Adelaide. So worthy of a YE #1. There were 3 Slams played. Which one did she win?

I'm just saying there is something seriously wrong with the strength of the WTA tour and their ranking rules when that's the YE #1, and yes Kenin was the only player who somewhat deserved it in 2020.

 

[Aussie Darcy]

Oh my bad. She played 4 tournaments, one where she had a bye and lost in the 2nd round and won Adelaide. So worthy of a YE #1. There were 3 Slams played. Which one did she win?

I'm just saying there is something seriously wrong with the strength of the WTA tour and their ranking rules when that's the YE #1, and yes Kenin was the only player who somewhat deserved it in 2020.

Considering how Kenin has gone since 2020, thank **** the WTA didn’t follow your preferred method.
Remember the double bagel she got in Rome? Gee that’d be a good look for the #1. Or how she lost to an unranked teenager earlier this year in Philip Island after losing in the 2R as the defending champion at the Australian Open. Thank god you don’t make the decisions.

 

[NoleFam]

Considering how Kenin has gone since 2020, thank **** the WTA didn’t follow your preferred method.
Remember the double bagel she got in Rome? Gee that’d be a good look for the #1. Or how she lost to an unranked teenager earlier this year in Philip Island after losing in the 2R as the defending champion at the Australian Open. Thank god you don’t make the decisions.

It has nothing to do with with what Kenin did since 2020. It's about the YE #1 in 2020 based on the 2020 results and sorry but winning the AO and making the final of RG s***s all over anything Barty did that year. She was YE#1 in 2020 thanks to her 2019.