A tennis great has taken the ultimate swipe at Aussie French Open women’s singles champion Ash Barty, claiming her winning match earlier this month was one of the poorest games he’d seen.
Romania’s Ion Tiriac hit out over the match between Barty and Czech Markéta Vondroušová, telling media outlet GSP he wasn’t impressed with either of the players’ skills and had to leave part way through – before slamming all Australians in a shocking attack.
In the incredibly open chat, the former mentor of Romanian tennis player Simona Halep claimed: “The Roland Garros women’s final was one of the poorest I’ve ever seen.
“Please excuse my sincerity. It was not one that excited me. I had to go after four games.”
Tiriac claimed the players were simply not worth watching and did not match the talent of stars such as Halep, Serena Williams and Maria Sharapova.
However, it went from bad to worse as the former player then took a major swipe at all Australians, controversially claiming those from the Land Down Under don’t know how to read or write.
“They do not know how to write or read… Every time someone comes from there (Australia), they come out with technical knowledge from A to Z,” he reportedly added.
Despite Tiriac’s views, Barty thoroughly impressed fellow Aussies in her match earlier this month as she became the first Australian player to win the French Open in 46 years.
The 23-year-old easily beat Vondrousova and won the game 6-1, 6-3. The match was over in just 70 minutes and followed two weeks of tough competition for the Queenslander.
Iconic player Margaret Court was the last Aussie to triumph at Roland Garos in 1973. Barty joined the likes of Court, Lesley Bowrey and Evonne Goolagong as the only Aussie women to be French Open women’s singles champions.
While the match tightened in the second set after a slower start from Vondrousova at the beginning of the game, it wasn’t enough to beat Barty.
After winning the match, Barty leaned over the tennis net and gave her opponent a big hug. She also seemed gobsmacked that she won the match and was spotted swearing in disbelief.
“It’s unbelievable. I’m a little bit speechless. It’s amazing,” the Queenslander said after her win.
She described the game as a “perfect match” and called her two weeks of competition in France “crazy”.