John McEnroe has criticised the early retirement of Australian tennis darling Ash Barty, and raised questions over the treatment of female tennis players.
Seven-time grand slam champion McEnroe told Eurosport that Barty has hurt the career of top female tennis players after walking away from the sport at the age of 25.
Speaking in the context of current women’s world No.1 Iga Swiatek, who he labelled “far and away the best player”, McEnroe said a lack of rivalry like the one he enjoyed with Bjorn Borg during his career hurts the sport of tennis.
“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 said.
“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?'” McEnroe said.
“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.”
While McEnroe allowed that Barty could have a number of reasons for leaving her tennis career behind, he said attention needs to be paid to make sure female players are having their needs met to encourage them to keep playing.
“Just not having that rival, I believe it hurts the sport, and … 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.”
Ash Barty cut budding rivalry short
Swiatek and Barty had only played each other twice, but Swiatek said she cried for “40 minutes” after learning of three-time Grand Slam champion’s retirement, which pushed the Polish player up the rankings to No. 1.
“I always had this vision that we would all play until we are 35 or something, until our bodies are so tired that we can’t anymore,” Swiatek told BBC at the time.
“I needed time to actually understand what she must have thought. Her decision was really brave and I felt a lot of emotions because of that.”
The two players were all smiles while posing for a photo ahead at the United Cup in Brisbane last week.
Tweet from @UnitedCupTennis
Speaking before the United Cup, Swiatek said Barty had been a “huge role model” on and off the court.
Less than a year since her shock announcement, Barty has had a busy retirement; releasing a memoir and her own series of children’s books, marrying long-time partner Garry Kissick, and this month announcing her pregnancy.
McEnroe’s legacy rivalry
McEnroe and Borg met on the court just 14 times between 1978 and 1981 – a negligible number of matches compared to the 40 matches played by Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal, and the 50 between Federer and Novak Djokovic.
But McEnroe and Borg still managed to produce one of the most talked-about rivalries in the history of tennis, which went on to inspire the 2017 film starring Shia LaBeouf, Borg vs McEnroe.
After losing the 1981 US Open final to McEnroe, Borg surprised the tennis world by retiring at 26 with almost no explanation.
The loss of his longtime rival and off-court friend hit McEnroe hard.
“For years, I would see him and say, ‘When are you coming back? This is ridiculous, let’s go,'” McEnroe told The New York Times in 2021.
“It just felt like there was a void and it took me a couple of years to accept that. I think it was too bad for the sport as well.”
