"Iga is an incredible talent, an exceptional human" - Barty on Swiatek

Iga Swiatek proved a worthy successor to Ashleigh Barty as the world's number one and the Australian shared some kind words about her.

Barty bid farewell to tennis earlier this year after winning the Australian Open and completing another dream of hers. Her biggest one came last year at Wimbledon when she lifted the trophy but overall Barty has been outspoken about how hard it was for her to be away from home as she simply loves being back home in Australia. In a recent interview, she revealed that she doesn't regret retiring at all and shared some nice words about Swiatek.

Barty said:

"Iga is an incredible talent, an exceptional human and a lovely girl. I love her and her team, and I couldn’t be more proud that she took over the No 1 position, because she plays the sport in the right way and has so much energy and charisma."

She added:

"But the depth in women’s tennis at the moment is great too. We’ve come from having one or two players dominating to there being more unpredictability. And that’s not because the tour is weak. In fact, it’s because the tour is so strong. Everyone in that top 40 to 50 bracket is so exceptionally good that week to week they could all be top‑10 players."

Asked about life after tennis she said:

"I’ve no regrets about retiring. Not one. I knew it was the right time for me. It was what I wanted to do. And I know that a lot of people may still not understand it. But I hope they respect that in the sense that it was my decision. And yeah, it’s been incredible. It’s been everything that I’ve ever wanted."