Ashleigh Barty wins Miami Open: Decoding her career achievements
Top seed Ashleigh Barty won the Miami Open 2021 crown after her opponent Bianca Andreescu was forced to retire with an ankle injury. Barty was leading 6-3, 4-0 when Andreescu retired. With this win, Barty retained the crown after winning the previous edition in 2019. Notably, this was the first meeting between Barty and Andreescu. Here we decode Barty's career achievements.
2019 US Open champion Andreescu had treatment from the trainer after she fell in the third game of the second set but was unable to complete the match. "It's never the way you want to finish," said Barty. "I feel for Bianca because she has had a lot of injuries and I hope it doesn't hamper her season too much," she added.
Barty has become the sixth woman to defend the Miami Open crown. She has followed in the legendary footsteps of Steffi Graf (1987-88, 1994-96), Monica Seles (1990-91), Arantxa Sanchez-Vicario (1992-93), Venus Williams (1998-99), and Serena Williams (2002-04, 2007-08, 2013-15). As per WTA, notably each of these six players has held the World No.1 ranking.
Barty is the first No.1 seed to win the Miami Open since Serena Williams in 2015. The Australian will remain the World No.1 after her title defense. Barty, who won the 2019 French Open champion, has held the No.1 ranking since September of that year. This is despite skipping the rescheduled US and French Opens in 2020 to remain in Australia.
"I know there has been a lot of talk about the ranking, but I didn't play at all last year and I didn't improve any of my points whatsoever," she claimed. "Yes, I didn't drop, but I didn't improve any. There were girls who had the chance to improve theirs. I felt like I thoroughly deserve my spot at the top of the rankings."
The 24-year-old Barty has won one Grand Slam in her career. She clinched the French Open in 2019. She has reached the quarter-finals twice at the Australian Open (2019, 2021). She made it to the Australian Open semis last year. Barty has a 40-22 win-loss record at Grand Slams. She also won the WTA Finals in 2019.
With several people chattering about Barty's No. 1 status, the Aussie international shrugged off talks to state she deserves her place. "I never have to prove anything to anyone," Barty said. "I know all the work that I do with my team behind the scenes."
Barty has won her 12th consecutive match in Miami. Notably, she has won her second trophy in 2021. She had beaten Garbine Muguruza at the Yarra Valley Classic. The Miami Open 2021 is Barty's 10th WTA singles title. She has defended a title for the first time in her career.
Barty has been a five-time finalist at Grand Slam women's doubles finals (AO 1, French Open 1, Wimbledon 1, and US Open 2). She has won one women's doubles title (US Open 2018).
🏆 Congratulations to World No.1 Ash Barty on her 2nd #MiamiOpen title! 🏆 pic.twitter.com/MMxu1jqFQA
— Miami Open (@MiamiOpen) April 3, 2021
