John McEnroe has criticized the early retirement of Australian tennis darling Ash Barty, and raised questions in regards to the therapy of feminine tennis gamers.
Seven-time grand slam champion McEnroe advised Eurosport that Barty has hurt the career of top female tennis players after walking away from the sport at the age of 25.
Talking within the context of present girls’s world No.1 Iga Swiatek, whom he labeled “far and away the perfect participant”, McEnroe stated a scarcity of rivalry just like the one he loved with Bjorn Borg throughout his profession hurts the game of tennis.
“I believe when Ash Barty retired that clearly despatched shockwaves as a result of here’s a younger lady at 25 that had come off profitable Wimbledon, then profitable the Australian Open and also you assume, ‘Okay she’s going to the US Open within the subsequent 12 months and it is only a matter of time,” McEnroe stated.
“Clearly, I hope she’s completely happy, you by no means wish to see somebody stroll away from it that younger as a result of then you definately’re like, ‘What’s fallacious with the ladies’s sport that the No. 1 participant walked away from the sport aged 25?’” McEnroe stated.
“We had that situation too, as a result of my buddy and my rival Bjorn Borg walked away and by no means performed a serious after 25. It will harm me, and my profession, I imagine.”
Whereas McEnroe allowed that Barty might have various causes for leaving her tennis profession behind, he stated consideration must be paid to ensure feminine gamers are having their wants met to encourage them to maintain taking part in.
“Simply not having that rival, I imagine it hurts the game, and … there’s by no means one motive, and there isn’t any one for Ash Barty both, however hopefully everybody will have a look at issues to guarantee that these girls on the tour are being taken care of of to the perfect of their capability so that they really feel as comfy as potential doing their factor.”
Ash Barty reduce budding rivalry brief
Swiatek and Barty had solely performed one another twice, however Swiatek stated she cried for “40 minutes” after studying of the three-time Grand Slam champion’s retirement, which pushed the Polish participant up the rankings to No. 1.
“I at all times had this imaginative and prescient that we’d all play till we’re 35 or one thing, till our our bodies are so drained that we will not anymore,” Swiatek advised BBC on the time.
“I wanted time to truly perceive what she will need to have thought. Her determination was actually courageous and I felt lots of feelings due to that.”
The 2 gamers had been all smiles whereas posing for a photo ahead on the United Cup in Brisbane final week.
Talking earlier than the United Cup, Swiatek stated Barty had been a “enormous function mannequin” on and off the courtroom.
Lower than a 12 months since her shock announcement, Barty has had a busy retirement; releasing a memoir and her personal collection of youngsters’s books, marrying long-time companion Garry Kissick, and this month announcing her pregnancy.
McEnroe’s legacy rivalry
McEnroe and Borg met on the courtroom simply 14 occasions between 1978 and 1981 – a negligible variety of matches in comparison with the 40 matches performed by Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal, and the 50 between Federer and Novak Djokovic.
However McEnroe and Borg nonetheless managed to supply one of the vital talked-about rivalries within the historical past of tennis, which went on to encourage the 2017 movie starring Shia LaBeouf, Borg vs McEnroe.
After shedding the 1981 US Open closing to McEnroe, Borg stunned the tennis world by retiring at 26 with virtually no clarification.
The lack of his longtime rival and off-court buddy hit McEnroe laborious.
“For years, I might see him and say, ‘When are you coming again? That is ridiculous, let’s go,’” McEnroe advised The New York Times in 2021.
“It simply felt like there was a void and it took me a few years to just accept that. I believe it was too unhealthy for the game as properly.”
