Jul 4th, 2019

Jul 4th, 2019

Former Australian tennis ace Sam Groth has labelled Serena Williams an "absolute disgrace" after she claimed to be unaware Ash Barty was the number one player in women's tennis.

Williams was asked for her thoughts on Barty's rise in a pre-Wimbledon press conference, only to appear shocked by the Australian's ranking.

"Wow, that's great," Williams said.

"I think Ash, I don't know anyone that has anything negative to say about her. She's like the sweetest, cutest girl on tour. She's so nice.

Barty headlines Aussie Wimbledon winners

"Obviously I'm happy for her. Yeah, it's good. It's good for her."

The reaction drew the ire of many within tennis and, writing for the Herald Sun, Groth didn't miss in a scathing critique of the 23-time grand slam champion.

"I thought Serena Williams’ reaction to Ash Barty becoming world No.1 last week was an absolute disgrace," Groth wrote.

"I don’t think what Ash has achieved in recent weeks has actually had the recognition it deserves from a lot of people, but as one of the biggest names in tennis, what Serena said was pretty shitty.

"Claiming she didn’t know Ash was number one — I don’t care if it was a genuine error or not. In fact if it was genuine it’s actually worse.

Barty claims world no. 1 ranking

Groth then took aim at Williams' back-handed compliments for Barty, which were primarily centred around her personality, not her athletic ability.

"Everyone wants to pump Ash up and rightly so but Serena going on about how nice she thinks Ash is? Her remarks were derogatory," he continued.

"Talking about Ash as a nice person — which she is of course — but she’s the best tennis player in the world and you didn’t know it. She gave her no credit for the achievement."

This isn't the first time in recent memory that Williams has come under fire for her treatment of fellow tennis players. She was labelled "disrespectful" at the French Open by Pat Cash for having Dominic Thiem allegedly cut short his own press conference to allow her to speak to the media at her desired time.

Thiem was quoted as saying Williams had a "bad personality".

Groth said Williams' attitude is unappreciated by fellow athletes within the sport.

Dominic Thiem and Serena Williams at the French Open. (PA AAP)

"Serena like Roger Federer, Rafa Nadal and a handful of other big names have a responsibility to their sport to promote, grow and nurture their sport. She’s not done for the women’s game what others have done for the men’s," he wrote.

"It’s all about brand Serena not brand tennis.

"She seems to have no idea about anything much that happens in the sport."

Not all of Barty's opponents shared similar reactions to Williams though. In their own pre-Wimbledon interviews, Petra Kvitova and Naomi Osaka proved they knew plenty about the top seed.

"It's nice to see her being there. I really like her as an opponent, as a person as well. She has a great game, can mix it up, a lot of variety there," Kvitova said.

"It was really nice seeing her win at Roland Garros. I was really happy for her."

Ash Barty wins the French Open

"I don't have to think about defending the ranking or anything. Also I'm really happy for Ashleigh," Osaka added.

"She's super amazing. I think just, like, her whole story of how she quit and came back is super cool."

Meanwhile Andy Murray, who attempted to recruit Barty as his doubles partner, detailed how he had tracked her progress to the top.

"Obviously very interesting story. I think the kind of journey she's been on the last few years, I mean, I saw her playing the first time ages ago. she's just a natural, like, athlete," Murray said.

"It's my understanding, she stopped playing, she wasn't necessarily enjoying it much. To see her around the courts and stuff now, it just seems like she's loving it. Maybe if she hasn't taken that break and that time away, it wouldn't necessarily be right for her."