'Like Federer': Rival's insane praise for Ash Barty ahead of return

The tennis world is still lavishing praise on World No.1 Ash Barty two weeks after her historic Australian Open title to begin 2022.

Barty won her maiden Australian Open title in front of a packed Rod Laver Arena, and with the whole nation watching, to become the first Aussie to do so in 44 years.

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The World No.1 showcased her all-round game and mental fortitude to win the grand slam without dropping a set and has now won a major on every type of surface.

Her victory, along with her Adelaide Open title, means Barty has started 2022 with an 11-0 record.

And Barty's insane consistency as World No.1 has sparked some praise from her rivals ahead of the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships.

While Barty is still resting after her title, which she can afford since her World No.1 ranking is in no immediate threat, some of the top WTA players were asked about the Australian.

And her closest rivals are in awe of the 25-year-old.

“She's the best and she's showing that she's the best every tournament. It's unbelievable,” Spanish World No.5 Paula Badosa said.

Badosa compared the Australian to tennis icon Roger Federer, considering how she is pushing the women's game forward.

“I said the other day to my coach when she won the tournament, I was like, ‘she's very good, but I want to play against her again. I want to see how it feels’,” Badosa said told reporters.

“She makes everything easy. Tough matches, she makes it easy. I'm just watching and watching her. It's amazing. For me she's very similar on the male side with (Roger) Federer.

“She does everything, like, with a lot of flow and very easy. But, yeah, I think she's the target for everyone.”

Ash Barty draws praise from rivals

Badosa wasn't the only star to praise the Australian.

Two-time grand slam champion Garbine Muguruza was full of praise for Barty, especially her performances with the title of World No.1.

Muguruza held the World No.1 ranking for four weeks back in 2017 and described it as having 'alarm bells' going off.

“I'm very happy for her,” Muguruza said.

“I think that she's showing a very composed No.1 and very solid...tennis-wise we all see she's very talented; but she's taking it in a very mature way, very stable. Sometimes it's difficult for all this pressure, being at home. Yeah, I’m happy. I think she deserved it.”

Finally, World No.3 Barbora Krejcikova said she was happy for Barty considering how humble she is off the court.

“It was amazing. I was watching the finals. I think it's really good for her. I really admire her because she is a really good girl, nice girl off the court, but also on the court she is a very tough opponent,” Krejcikova said.

“I think for most of us, for most of the girls, I think she can be a good example to get higher, to finally try to beat her."

World No.4 Aryna Sabalenka, who has a 4-4 record against Barty, said she was happy for the Australian and she deserves the accolades.

Barty has now spent a total of 115 weeks as World No.1, a reign Naomi Osaka briefly interrupted.

The Australian will return to action on the hard courts at Indian Wells on March 9 where she could extend her ranking points considering she missed last year's edition.

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