World number one Ash Barty’s record against the best is showing she is no fill-in at the top

Ash Barty has been the women’s singles tennis world number one for 70 weeks now, but you could be forgiven for thinking there was an official asterisk next to the Australian’s name.

The WTA “froze” the rankings system last year amid the COVID-19 pandemic, allowing players to count their best 16 tournaments dating back to March 2019 instead of the usual 52-week cycle.

This has allowed Barty to hang on to rankings points, despite opting to miss much of the 2020 season due to safety concerns, and led to criticism from some quarters that the Australian star was a “fill-in” at number one until things got back to normal.

But a look at what has happened in women’s tennis in 2021 — and prior to that — shows Barty is in the right spot in the…