‘Unbelievable’: Ash Barty earns ‘amazing’ Roger Federer comparison

Ash Barty is the undisputed queen of women’s tennis at the moment and she has received the highest praise possible by her peers.

Ash Barty has been compared to the great Roger Federer.

Ash Barty has once again received the highest praise possible for a tennis player — being compared to Roger Federer.

The Australian cemented her status as the best female tennis player at the moment with a dominant win at the Australian Open last month.

It was Barty’s third grand slam title and she became just the fifth active player — after Federer, Rafael Nadal, Novak Djokovic and Serena Williams to win a major on all three surfaces.

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Barty has well and truly earned the praise of her peers, with several tennis stars revealing they are in awe of her composure on the court and are struggling to come up with ways to beat her.

The 25-year-old has even drawn comparisons to Federer as a similarly smooth mover who can slice and dice opponents with her versatile all-court game.

Spanish world No. 5 Paula Badosa recently described Barty’s level of play as “unbelievable” and likened her fluidity on the court to that of Federer in his pomp.

“I said the other day to my coach when she won the tournament (the Australian Open), I was like, ‘She’s very good, but I want to play against her again. I want to see how it feels’,” Badosa said at the weekend, as quoted by Eurosport.

“She makes everything easy. Tough matches, she makes it easy. I’m just watching and watching her. It’s amazing. For me she’s very similar on the male side with (Roger) Federer.

Ash Barty has been compared to Roger Federer. Picture: David Caird

Not bad company to be in. (Photo by Julian Finney/Getty Images)

“She does everything, like, with a lot of flow and very easy. But, yeah, I think she’s the target for everyone.”

“She’s the best and she’s showing that she’s the best every tournament. It’s unbelievable.”

It’s not the first time Barty has been put in the same class as Federer. During the Australian Open, four-time grand slam winner Jim Courier declared her slice backhand was even better than the Swiss maestro’s.

“Ash’s slice technique is arguably the best backhand slice technique in the world, period,” Courier said.

“Men’s, women’s tennis, it doesn’t matter. It’s spectacular. Roger Federer, if you’re back in Switzerland, yeah that’s right, I said it buddy. She might be better than yours.

“I’m a fanboy of Ash’s backhand slice.”

Sweden’s seven-time grand slam champion Mats Wilander likened Barty’s dominance in women’s tennis to Federer and predicted she would have her competitors chasing her for years to come.

“She can win 10 more slams in my book,” Wilander said on Eurosport during the Australian Open.

“She’s going to take the women’s game to the next level because we’re not talking about a Serena Williams who just blows you off the court.

Ash Barty took her game to the next level at the Australian Open. Picture: Mark Stewart

“With Ash Barty, you’re going to have this problem that she’s taking tennis to the next level just like Roger Federer did.

“She can win all four of the grand slams. I didn’t see a style that’s going to other her on any specific surface, I don’t see a surface that bothers her.

“She’s going to problem solve, she’s going to have that serve, that sliced backhand so she’s the total package for me.”

Barty has extended her lead in the rankings at world No. 1 and her rivals have lauded her incredible performance under pressure at the Australian Open.

“I’m very happy for her,” two-time grand slam champion Garbine Muguruza said.

“I think that she’s showing a very composed No. 1 and very solid.

“Tennis-wise we all see she’s very talented, but she’s taking it in a very mature way, very stable.

“Sometimes it’s difficult for all this pressure, being at home. Yeah, I’m happy. I think she deserved it.”

Barty is taking women’s tennis to new heights. Picture: David Caird

Reigning French Open champion Barbora Krejcikova said Barty is setting an extremely high standard in the women’s game.

“It was amazing,” Krejcikova said of Barty’s Australian Open triumph.

“I was watching the finals. I think it’s really good for her. I really admire her because she is a really good girl, nice girl off the court, but also on the court she is a very tough opponent.

“I think for most of us, for most of the girls, I think she can be a good example to get higher, to finally try to beat her.

“I think she deserves it. She works really hard. She belongs where she is right now.”

World No. 2 Aryna Sabalenka added: “She’s amazing and she deserves it.

“She fights really hard and her game is really uncomfortable for most of the girls and she uses it really well. So she deserves it.”

Barty is expected to return to the court at next month’s Indian Wells in California, which is seen as one of the biggest tournaments outside the four grand slams.