Pat Rafter Spills Amazing Secret About Ash Barty After Retirement
Pat Rafter has spilled the beans over an apparent feud between Ash Barty and Australian Open runner-up Danielle Collins. Barty became the first Australian in 44 years to win the Australian Open when he beat American star Collins in the final in January.
Barty staged an extraordinary comeback from 5-1 down in the second set to beat Collins 6-3 7-6, becoming the first Australian Grand Slam winner since Chris O’Neil in 1978. It would end up being The La Barty’s career after her announced his retirement from the sport just three months later.
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In a stunning twist, Australian legend Rafter has now revealed the tension that existed between Barty and Collins. Speaking in Brisbane on Tuesday before the new United Cup, said Rafter there was no ‘lost love’ between the couple.
“I knew with her and Danielle, they had a bit of… what do you say? There was no love lost anyway.” beam said the aussie. “Danielle is quite a fighter. And Ash didn’t want to lose to her.”
Rafter said it was strange that Barty was no longer playing professional tennis and said he hopes she will one day backtrack on her retirement. “I enjoyed watching it. It was the only match that I always turned on to watch,” he said.
“It’s been almost a year without Ash, so we’re slowly getting over it. Obviously he showed who he is and the person he is and he’s had a great year sitting on the sidelines and he certainly has no desire to return to tennis, although we all secretly hope he does.”
Pat Rafter weighs in on the dramas surrounding Nick Kyrgios
The United Cup is effectively a revival of the old Hopman Cup, which was controversially scrapped in 2019 in favor of the men-only ATP Cup. The United Cup will see the world’s best men and women come together in a mixed-gender event starting on December 29.
The event will mark the first time Nick Kyrgios will represent Australia in a team tournament since 2019. Controversially, he opted out of Davis Cup for the past three years and also skipped the Tokyo Olympics in 2021.
Team captain Lleyton Hewitt and star player Alex de Minaur have revealed that they intended to get Kyrgios to play in this year’s Davis Cup final in Malaga. However, Kyrgios said he was unlikely to play Davis Cup due to the “lack of respect” towards him from the Australian public.
“He’s going to have to figure out how he does all that. I really don’t know what’s up with him,” Rafter said of Kyrgios’ return to the domestic fold in the United Cup.
“I just sit back and watch it, see what comes out and have a little laugh. Since I’m not involved in it and don’t need to be, I really enjoy sitting back now and not having to say or do anything.” .
“You have to want to be there. If you don’t, you won’t just let yourself down, you’ll let the team down. Obviously, Lleyton is there running the show. Our whole generation wanted to be there and play. We loved it. Some people didn’t like it. like”.
Asked if he was aware of any fight between Kyrgios and Hewitt, Rafter said: “I don’t know that. They are together here (in the United Cup). They have been together before in the Davis Cup. He is the captain again. We’ll wait and see what happens, but it could work. It’s going to be interesting.”
Rafter said time will tell if Kyrgios returns to Davis Cup in 2023. He added: “You have to have buy-in from the players and from Lleyton as well. Lleyton have to figure out how they want to structure their team and how they want everything to evolve.
“(Kyrgios) will dictate his results. He will dictate who he is. He will dictate how he fits in with the Australian personality and the personality to face him. That’s up to him.”
with PAA
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