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| Australia's Ashleigh Barty kisses the trophy Suzanne Lenglen after winning against Czech Republic's Marketa Vondrousova at the end of the women's singles final match on day fourteen of The Roland Garros 2019 French Open tennis tournament in Paris on June 8, 2019. ( AFP ) |
Twenty-three year-old Australian Ashleigh Barty is the new Queen of Roland-Garros, sweeping aside Marketa Vondrousova to lift her maiden Grand Slam at the French Open on Saturday.
Barty, who is also a cricketer, won in two straight sets 6-1 6-3 within 70 minutes, ending Australia’s 46-year wait for French Open triumph.
The eight ranked player had previously won 4 WTA and also 4 ITF titles, unlike her teenage Czech opponent, who had just one WTA title before today.
The 23-year-old will rise to second in the world behind only Naomi Osaka when the latest rankings are released next week, after becoming the first Australian winner at Roland Garros since Margaret Court won the last of her five trophies in 1973.
She will be best-ranked Australian woman since Evonne Goolagong Cawley in 1976.
“It’s unbelievable, I’m a little bit speechless. I played the perfect match today. I’m so proud of myself and my team, it’s been a incredible two weeks,” said Barty.
“It’s a special place for Australians here. Sam (Stosur) has done well here before and come so close. It’s been a magical two weeks.”
As a doubles player, Barty recorded successes reaching the finals in Wimbledon and Australian Open in 2013, the French Open in 2017. She won the US Open last year with American Coco Vandeweghe. She won 10 doubles titles on the tour.
Born in Ipswich in Queensland, Barty began playing tennis at age four in nearby Brisbane. She had a promising junior career, reaching a career-high ranking of No. 2 in the world after winning the girls’ singles title at Wimbledon in 2011.
Late in the 2014 season, Barty decided to take an indefinite leave from tennis. She ended up playing cricket during this hiatus, signing with the Brisbane Heat for the inaugural Women’s Big Bash League despite having no formal training in the sport.
Barty returned to tennis in early 2016 shortly before turning 20 years old. Although she won her first tournament back on the ITF circuit, her year was ultimately marred by an arm injury.
In 2017, Barty had a breakout year in singles, winning her first WTA title at the Malaysian Open and rising to No. 17 in the world despite having never been ranked inside the top 100 before her time off.
She also had another prolific year in doubles with Dellacqua, culminating in her first appearance at the WTA Finals.
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