After getting a good start on the clay court, the eighth seeded Barty never looked back, winning 6-1, 6-3 as she eased past her opponent on the big stage.
(Photo by CORINNE DUBREUIL / FRENCH TENNIS FEDERATION / AFP)
Ashleigh Barty ended Australia’s four-decade long wait for a French Open singles till after she defeated Czech teenager Marketa Vondrousova in a match dominated by Ashleigh’s genius.
After getting a good start on the clay court, the eighth seeded Barty never looked back, winning 6-1, 6-3 as she eased past her opponent on the big stage. It took Barty only 70 minutes to claim her maiden French Open title.
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It is to be noted that the 23-year-old will now rise to the second rank when the latest rankings are released. She will be behind only Naomi Osaka, after becoming the first Australian winner at Roland Garros since Margaret Court’s last title win in 1973.
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The right-handed tennis star will also become the best ranked Australian woman since Evonne Goolagong Cawley, who was rank 1 in 1976.
Interestingly, Barty had once hung her tennis racquets in order to take a break and try her hand at cricket.
After having ended 2011 as the World’s second-ranked junior in Tennis, she played as a professional tennis player for three years tasting little success. She took a two year break from Tennis, which included quite a successful stint with the Brisbane Heat Team in the Big Bash League for the season 2015-16.
Barty wanted to quit tennis after her 2014 US Open failure. After an impressive trial, Barty made her debut for the Big Bash League (BBL) team Brisbane Heat in 2015-16 season. In her league debut, too, Barty looked as if she belonged to the sport, scoring 39 off 27, including a massive six.
When she rejoined Tennis in June 2016, she was ranked 623. Interestingly, this is June 2019 – precisely three years from the time she rejoined professional tennis – and Barty has the second position in world rankings.
From the world of sports, Barty’s is as fascinating a story as one can get.
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