Darling Ashleigh Barty: "There is no one in tennis who does not grant her this victory"
Ashleigh Barty and a Wimbledon win in 2021? Seemed an impossibility a few weeks ago.
by Jörg Allmeroth
last edit: Jul 11, 2021, 02:39 pm
The evening had already fallen over London when Ashleigh Barty (25) had to think about the "crazy weeks" again. The weeks between hope and fear that followed her injury task at the French Open. On June 3, she had to give up her second round match against Magda Linette from Poland in the Roland Garros stadium due to a painful hip injury, the dream of a Wimbledon triumph seemed to be over.
But 37 days after the “absolute low” under the Eiffel Tower, she stood proud and moved to tears as the heroine on the holy lawn, 6: 3, 6: 7 (4: 7), 6: 3 winner against the Czech Karolina Pliskova : “ This story is so incredible. I just can't believe it, ”said Barty, the first in the world rankings, who was now the best in the most important of all tennis tournaments for the first time. Exactly 50 years after Evonne Goolagong Cawley's victory, an Australian player with indigenous roots was again on the royal throne in the All England Club, a player about whom Martina Navratilova said: “There is no one in tennis who does not allow her this victory. "
Ashleigh Barty: "Had to gather new strength"
As unconventional and arduous as the countdown to this greatest success was, the 37 days between the Paris withdrawal and the Wimbledon coup, Barty's entire career path has also been extraordinary. Ten years ago, at the tender age of 15, the Australian won the junior women's tournament in Wimbledon, after which she quickly got on the adult tour - and, especially in doubles with her partner Casey Dellaqua, achieved a sensational record with the advance in three grand Slam finals (Australian Open, Wimbledon, US Open). In the late summer of 2014, however, Barty decided to take an unusual step and left the traveling circus for an indefinite period: “The stress had become too great for me. I just had to regain my strength mentally, I had become a victim of my own success. "
The break lasted a year and a half for Barty, who temporarily even moved to the Australian cricket league and then quickly developed as a tennis returnee to a respected figure in singles and doubles. In 2019, at the age of 23, she won her first Grand Slam title in Paris, with her typically fluid, variable, completely natural style of play. However, she did not defend the French Open title, in Corona year 2020 she simply stayed at home after the first tournaments in her native Australia and stopped travel. “It was too difficult and complicated to jet through the world,” said Barty, “I felt more comfortable with my family and friends at home.” It was only at the beginning of this season that she made her comeback and quickly returned to world-class level back. She won important tournaments like in Miami and Stuttgart and announced early that she would go to Wimbledon this year "to win and to make my greatest dream come true."
Barty and Wimbledon: Indescribable Experience
Barty's status as an industry leader has been questioned many times lately, including because of her long hiatus last season. “That talk was nonsense. She played like a true number one at Wimbledon and gave the answer, "said tennis legend Billie Jean King," she is the player who will help determine the tennis of the future. "But the numbers from the past were impressive enough, because since At the start of the 2017 season, Barty was now the most successful player with twelve tour titles and a win rate of 76 percent in her matches.
Nothing in the last ten years - since the success in the shadow of Center Court as an aspiring junior - could, however, come close to the happy hours on July 10, 2021, the rendezvous with history, the freestyle to the new lawn queen in London SW 19. “I've never had such strong feelings on a tennis court as I do today,” said Barty, “it was an overwhelming, indescribable experience.” And yet the 25-year-old didn't completely lose perspective on her proudest day: “A good one Being human is my top priority every single day. "
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