Former Australian tennis player Sam Groth has lashed out at Serena Williams again, claiming the tennis great was “condescending” in her latest comments about Aussie champ Ash Barty.
Williams came under fire just over a week ago after admitting she didn’t realise Barty had jumped up to the women’s world number one spot.
In a column written for the Herald Sun, Groth later claimed that what Williams said was “pretty sh***y” and that she should have been aware of Barty’s success.
Speaking out about the controversy in a post-match interview at Wimbledon, Williams then hit back and described Barty as a “sweet person” and said she has been rooting for her all along.
“I don’t even know what he’s [Groth] talking about,” she replied to a reporter.
“I’m happy she’s number one, I don’t know anyone that isn’t. She’s such a sweet person, I don’t know. I think she’s just the one person the locker room that everyone roots for, including me.”
But now, speaking on Channel Nine’s Sports Sunday, Groth has refused to back down and labelled Williams’ recent comments “condescending”.
“You saw the footage and the way she reacted to the initial question,” he said.
“This is 100 per cent my opinion and I’ll stand by it. If you’re an icon of your sport and you have the chance to pump up the future of the sport, the current world number one.
“Whether Serena knew or not, that reaction and to call Ash ‘nice’ and ‘cute’; she has the chance to say Ash was a fantastic tennis player, she’s a great person for the sport, but she didn’t. She called her ‘nice’ and ‘cute’ and didn’t acknowledge that she was the best player in the world, and I thought that honestly was pretty condescending.”
Meanwhile, the whole debacle hasn’t seemed to phase Barty as she cruises through Wimbledon, with the star admitting she’s not too concerned about what others have said about her rise to success.
“Serena hasn’t been at many of the tournaments lately so it’s not really something that I worry about,” the young Aussie said, according to Nine News.
Barty has received much support from fellow Australians since her win, wowing all with her very humble speech after becoming the country’s first woman to be ranked world number one in 43 years.
The 23-year-old sporting star took the top spot after winning the Nature Valley Classic in Birmingham in the UK, beating German tennis player Julia Goerges 6-3 7-5.