A week on from her triumph in Paris, Ash Barty doesnt remember much of the greatest moment in her career to date.
“Its all a bit of a blur,” she says. “And to be honest its still soaking in.”
Australia's French Open champ, Ash Barty, in Birmingham as her pre-Wimbledon schedule heats up.Credit:Chloe Knott/LTA
Barty has just won her first Grand Slam, the first Australian to conquer Roland Garros since Margaret Court in 1973.
She got her name on the trophy and picked up a couple of million in prizemoney.
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Barty relishing her winning moment.Credit:AP
And then she disappeared. Went out for a nice dinner in Paris with her support team “just to relax and enjoy each others company”, then hung out with her family and team in the British Midlands. Whacked a few golf balls, crunching a few, shanking a couple. Watched some cricket and soccer on the telly (on Thursday she had a split-screen going with golf on one and the Matildas on the other).
“Just cruised around a little bit.”
Its been a crappy week to spend in England celebrating a highlight of your life to date. Cold, drizzly, miserable. Summer in name only.
But you get the impression that, right now, the rain would bounce right off Ashleigh Barty.
Here she is in Birmingham, the 23 year-old from Ipswich ready for another tournament: ranking No. 2 in the world, hair tied tight back behind her head, black polish on her fingernails.
Barty in Birmingham.Credit:Chloe Knott/LTA
She talks at a million miles an hour, not nervously but precisely, hitting questions back at top speed with answers that land exactly where she wants them to land.
Her go-to word is “incredible”. The win in Paris was incredible, her journey over the past three years since she returned to tennis has been incredible, the amount of love and support shes received since the win has been incredible, the competition in Birmingham is going to be incredible (the sports top three women will be playing, all chasing the perfect grass-court curtain-raiser for Wimbledon).
Theres one particular phrase Barty has clearly internalised, because she repeats it twice almost word for word in a press conference and then to me: “Im not going to play my best tennis every day, Im not going to win every single match, but I can certainly go out there with the right attitude to give myself the best chance”.
This is a champion determined to keep both feet on the ground.
Barty insists the win in Paris is not going to change her.
It wont change the way she plays tennis: “for me everything stays the same. Obviously what weve been doing is working.”
And it wont change her life: “Im a pretty low-key kind of person. I live a pretty simple life. I get to enjoy some of the most amazing experiences on the tennis tour but when I go back home, [its] very much back to the family, back to normality for me”.
Part of this deliberate calm is strategy. The past week has been about rest and recovery. To drain the adrenalin and get back into herself.
“A lot of the time was literally just being really quiet,” she says. “Having time away from people, just by myself. Its important – just making sure that I get to a place now where we arrive at the next tournament fresh and ready to go.
“We didnt want there to be a hangover, as such, where Im not prepared and Im not ready for the next tournament. Weve had an incredible fortnight of tennis but now we get to switch focus to the grass court season.”
In action during the final of the French Open.Credit:AP
She acknowledges its an odd thing about the tennis tour: she cant afford to relax and enjoy this extraordinary moment for more than a day or two.
And thats especially true at this point in the tour: the switch from clay to grass, where she has to find her feet on a new surface, fast.
“Its a quick change, something we have to deal with every year and something Ive been very comfortable with [in past years] … I love it and I find it an easy change. Its just about getting my feet on the grass courts and getting used to it. The bonus is Ive been playing a lot of tennis and Read More – Source
A week on from her triumph in Paris, Ash Barty doesnt remember much of the greatest moment in her career to date.
“Its all a bit of a blur,” she says. “And to be honest its still soaking in.”
Australia's French Open champ, Ash Barty, in Birmingham as her pre-Wimbledon schedule heats up.Credit:Chloe Knott/LTA
Barty has just won her first Grand Slam, the first Australian to conquer Roland Garros since Margaret Court in 1973.
She got her name on the trophy and picked up a couple of million in prizemoney.
Advertisement
Barty relishing her winning moment.Credit:AP
And then she disappeared. Went out for a nice dinner in Paris with her support team “just to relax and enjoy each others company”, then hung out with her family and team in the British Midlands. Whacked a few golf balls, crunching a few, shanking a couple. Watched some cricket and soccer on the telly (on Thursday she had a split-screen going with golf on one and the Matildas on the other).
“Just cruised around a little bit.”
Its been a crappy week to spend in England celebrating a highlight of your life to date. Cold, drizzly, miserable. Summer in name only.
But you get the impression that, right now, the rain would bounce right off Ashleigh Barty.
Here she is in Birmingham, the 23 year-old from Ipswich ready for another tournament: ranking No. 2 in the world, hair tied tight back behind her head, black polish on her fingernails.
Barty in Birmingham.Credit:Chloe Knott/LTA
She talks at a million miles an hour, not nervously but precisely, hitting questions back at top speed with answers that land exactly where she wants them to land.
Her go-to word is “incredible”. The win in Paris was incredible, her journey over the past three years since she returned to tennis has been incredible, the amount of love and support shes received since the win has been incredible, the competition in Birmingham is going to be incredible (the sports top three women will be playing, all chasing the perfect grass-court curtain-raiser for Wimbledon).
Theres one particular phrase Barty has clearly internalised, because she repeats it twice almost word for word in a press conference and then to me: “Im not going to play my best tennis every day, Im not going to win every single match, but I can certainly go out there with the right attitude to give myself the best chance”.
This is a champion determined to keep both feet on the ground.
Barty insists the win in Paris is not going to change her.
It wont change the way she plays tennis: “for me everything stays the same. Obviously what weve been doing is working.”
And it wont change her life: “Im a pretty low-key kind of person. I live a pretty simple life. I get to enjoy some of the most amazing experiences on the tennis tour but when I go back home, [its] very much back to the family, back to normality for me”.
Part of this deliberate calm is strategy. The past week has been about rest and recovery. To drain the adrenalin and get back into herself.
“A lot of the time was literally just being really quiet,” she says. “Having time away from people, just by myself. Its important – just making sure that I get to a place now where we arrive at the next tournament fresh and ready to go.
“We didnt want there to be a hangover, as such, where Im not prepared and Im not ready for the next tournament. Weve had an incredible fortnight of tennis but now we get to switch focus to the grass court season.”
In action during the final of the French Open.Credit:AP
She acknowledges its an odd thing about the tennis tour: she cant afford to relax and enjoy this extraordinary moment for more than a day or two.
And thats especially true at this point in the tour: the switch from clay to grass, where she has to find her feet on a new surface, fast.
“Its a quick change, something we have to deal with every year and something Ive been very comfortable with [in past years] … I love it and I find it an easy change. Its just about getting my feet on the grass courts and getting used to it. The bonus is Ive been playing a lot of tennis and Read More – Source
