ITF

ITF World Spring 2022 7 ASHLEIGH BARTY In an exclusive interview for ITFWorld, Mark Woodforde pays tribute to a fabulous champion, an Australian legend and the 'perfect Vegemite kid' Ash, thank you for the memories… Farewell She will be remembered as a great champion, but Ashleigh Barty was on course to amass many more Grand Slam titles, perhaps even push towards a career haul of 20, according to fellow Australian superstar Mark Woodforde. Like the rest of the sporting world and the Australian public in particular, Woodforde was left shocked by Barty's sudden declaration last month that at the age of 25 she was retiring from tennis with immediate effect. The announcement came hot on the heels of Barty's Australian Open triumph in January when she was presented with the trophy by her friend and idol Evonne Goolagong Cawley, with whom she shares indigenous ancestry. Barty suggested that conquering the field at her home Grand Slam, which followed a stunning victory at Wimbledon last year, was the perfect way to bow out of the game and celebrate her tennis journey. She retires having won three Grand Slam singles titles – her first came on the clay of Roland Garros in 2019 – and the doubles crown she secured alongside CoCo Vandeweghe of the United States at the 2018 US Open. During a trophy-laden career of his own, Woodforde won 17 Grand Slams across doubles and mixed doubles as well as gold at the 1996 Olympic Games in Atlanta. He is of the opinion that Barty was destined for a silverware collection to rival the very best. "Ash will be regarded as one of the great champions of the women's tour and, without doubt, be judged as one of our great champions back home in Australia," Woodforde tells ITFWorld. "There are already calls for a court at Melbourne Park to be named after her. "However, the storybook for Ash has been interrupted, dare I say a little like Monica Seles, with the potential to win a whole lot more. In different circumstances, Monica could have been up there with 20 Grand Slams and Ash might have been able to achieve that as well. "We would certainly have been celebrating Ash dominating women's tennis for years to come and, had she continued, we probably would have been talking of her being one of the greats. But that wasn't part of her script." Main Barty won her third Grand Slam singles tle at the Australian Open in January Right Woodforde has been an athlete member of the ITF Board since 2015

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