Serena Williams hits back at Sam Groth over Ash Barty storm

Serena Williams has hit back at claims she didn't pay enough respect to Ash Barty's rise to the No.1 ranking, after former Australian tennis player Sam Groth labelled her an “absolute disgrace”.

In his column for the Herald Sun, the 31-year-old - who reached a career-high ranking of 53 - called out the 23-time Grand Slam champion for the way she reacted to the news of Barty reaching the highest ranking in women's tennis.

Williams claimed not to know Barty was the world No.1 until it was brought to her attention during a pre-Wimbledon press conference on the weekend.

"As one of the biggest names in tennis, what Serena said was pretty shitty," Groth wrote.

"Claiming she didn't know Ash was number one - I don't care if it was a genuine error or not. In fact if it was genuine it's actually worse.

"You're one of the most recognisable athletes on the planet and you can't tell me who the number one player in your sport is? It's disgraceful and not a good look for your sport."

When asked about Groth's column following her second round victory, Williams was surprised by the former Australian player's take on her reaction to Barty's meteoric rise through the world rankings.

“I don’t even know what he’s talking about,” she said.

“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 in the locker room that everyone roots for, including me.”

Groth's comments were brought to Barty's attention following her second round win but the Queenslander pleaded ignorance, saying she hadn't read the column. The 23-year-old then highlighted Serena's absence on tour in recent times.

“Serena hasn’t been at many of the tournaments lately so it’s not really something that I worry about,” Barty said.

Australia's world No.1 needed less than an hour to cast aside Van Uytvanck 6-1 6-3 on Thursday to extend her winning streak to 14 matches.

Barty next plays British wildcard Harriet Dart while Williams takes on Julia Goerges in her third round clash.

Williams was rocked in the first set by the 18-year-old Slovenian Kaja Juvan but rallied to take the match 2-6 6-2 6-4.

If both players qualify through their third and fourth round matches, they're due to meet in the quarter-finals.