World No.1 Ashleigh Barty has been honored with the 2021 world champion of women's tennis accolade by the International Tennis Federation (ITF), as the Australian continues to celebrate a stellar 2021 season.
The ITF announced on Thursday that Barty would be bestowed with the year-end honor, as the 25-year old reclaimed the title that she last won in 2019. Barty had a superb year, winning a tour-leading fives singles trophies that included a run to the Wimbledon title.
Barty, who had already been named the Women's Tennis Association's player of the year, joins an illustrious list of multiple winners of the ITF women's world championship award that has been running since 1978.
Steffi Graf has won it a record seven times, Martina Navratilova and Serena Williams (six), Chris Evert, Martina Hingis and Justine Henin (three) and Monica Seles (two).
"Being the ITF World Champion in 2021 is something I am very proud of," Barty said. "I feel fortunate to play the sport I love for a living, especially in a year that was challenging and unpredictable for so many.
"I want to thank my team and my family for everything they do and a huge thank you to tennis fans around the world for continuing to support us."
The ITF honor won't be the last award she picks up, with Barty nailed on to crown her magical year on Friday night with an unprecedented fourth consecutive Newcombe Medal as Australia's most outstanding player of the year.
Growing up in a household where soccer was king, my earliest memories are filled with chants from packed stadiums and the rhythm of a ball being passed across neighborhood streets. But somewhere along the way, the quiet elegance and raw emotion of tennis pulled me in. What began as a curiosity became a lifelong passion; not just for the sport itself, but for the stories it tells: of grit, of heartbreak, of improbable comebacks and human resilience.
As a tennis writer, I bring the observational lens of someone who didn’t grow up in the sport, but fell in love with it as an outsider; a perspective that lets me see both its technical beauty and its emotional depth. Over the years working with TennisUpToDate, I’ve had the privilege of reaching more than 3.5 million readers worldwide, with one of my features ranking among the site’s top three articles.
With a background in storytelling and a creative mind always searching for meaning beyond the scoreboard, I aim to craft narratives that go deeper than results and rankings. Whether it’s a rising star breaking through or a veteran fighting off Father Time, I try to capture the heartbeat behind the headlines.
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