Ashleigh Barty Joins Elite Company of Steffi Graf, Serena Williams By Entering The Centurial Club

Australian tennis star Ashleigh Barty is on the top of the world right now- literally. Not only did she win 4 tournaments, but she also won Wimbledon this year. Moreover, she became the World No. 1 in June 2019. This week marks the hundredth in a row that Ashleigh Barty has been the World’s No. 1 in the WTA rankings.

In fact, she is only the fifth woman to have achieved this feat.

Ashleigh Barty joins some elite company

Only four women before Ashleigh Barty have remained at the top spot of the rankings for 100+ weeks. Barty joins the club behind Chris Evert, Martina Navratilova, Steffi Graf, and Serena Williams.

In fact, this is actually Barty’s 107th week as the WTA World No. 1. Moreover, the 100 consecutive weeks Barty has been at the top does not include the 20 weeks of frozen rankings. Last year, the WTA froze all rankings between March and August due to the pandemic.

In terms of total weeks spent at the top spot, Ashleigh Barty is in the 8th position. German tennis legend Steffi Graf leads the board with a seemingly-insurmountable 377 weeks spent as the World No. 1.

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However, on that list, Serena Williams is the only active player in the sport right now. Williams sits currently at the No. 41 spot.

Australia honors Ashleigh Barty

Ashleigh Barty, along with compatriot wheelchair tennis player Dylan Alcott, was awarded the Newcombe medal this week. The medal is awarded to Australian players for their outstanding achievements in the sport.

In fact, this was Barty’s fourth consecutive Newcombe Medal, the most any Australian athlete has won since the inaugural award in 2010.

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