The US Open was the only Grand Slam singles title that Ash Barty was unable to win.
Barty shockingly retired from tennis at just 25 years old after winning the Australian Open in 2022.
There has been some speculation about whether she could reverse that decision, and Barty has confirmed whether she is planning a return to tennis.
Despite having a very successful career, Barty could never conquer the US Open, which her coach claimed was down to one particular reason.
Craig Tyzzer once claimed there was something preventing Ash Barty from winning the US Open
Barty dominated the WTA Tour until she retired in 2022, and was world number one for 114 consecutive weeks.
The Australian won all three of the four majors in her career, but she never reached the quarterfinals of the US Open.
After watching Barty win her third major singles title at the Australian Open, her long-term coach Craig Tyzzer told Tennis Majors that the tennis balls at the US Open were preventing her from completing the Career Grand Slam.
At the time, the Wilson tennis balls used at the US Open were lighter for women than men.
Tyzzer spoke about how challenging the balls are to control, and how if they kept them the same Barty would be unable to win the US Open.
“The US Open really needs to change the ball for the girls, the fact they still use a different ball for guys and girls,” said Tyzzer. “It’s a terrible ball for someone like Ash. Even in Cincinnati when they use the US Open ball outside she could actually get some loft out of the court, but the ball itself is so light.
“It was the only tournament last year and really for two years where she uses a gut racquet but I had to change her to a poly just to get any sort of control of the ball.
“If they keep that ball the same, no one like Ash will win that tournament. So I think you see the result at the US Open, it was two players who, you go, Wow, that was, two different players won that? There’s no surprise when the ball is like it is. And I don’t know the reason why. It’s the only tournament that has separate ball for the guys and girls. So if they don’t change the balls, she won’t win the US Open.”
Barty would never play the New York major again after Tyzzer made these comments, with her last appearance at the tournament coming in 2021 when Emma Raducanu won the US Open title.
Although she would never win the singles title, Barty did win the women’s doubles title with CoCo Vandeweghe in 2018.
| Year | Ash Barty’s US Open Result |
| 2013 | Second Round |
| 2014 | First Round |
| 2017 | Third Round |
| 2018 | Fourth Round |
| 2019 | Fourth Round |
| 2021 | Third Round |
Does the US Open still use different balls for men and women?
Barty was not the only player to have been left frustrated by the US Open balls, including Iga Swiatek who called them ‘horrible’ in 2022.
“I think those balls are horrible,” Swiatek told media at the time. “They are pretty bad. I know there are many players who complain, and many of them are top 10.”
Ironically Swiatek would win the US Open that year, but her complaints appeared to have made a difference.
For the 2023 tournament, the US Open confirmed that women would start using the same heavy duty balls as the men.
This resulted in Coco Gauff winning her first Grand Slam title, while Aryna Sabalenka triumphed in New York a year later.
It begs the question as to what would have happened to Barty if she had played the US Open when the extra duty balls were in play.
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