Ashleigh Barty says her French Open success has catapulted her into dreamland.
The 23-year-old beat unseeded Czech Marketa Vondrousova 6-1 6-3 in Paris on Saturday to become Australia’s fourth French Open champion, and first in 46 years.
Barty, who only returned to tennis three years ago, was ruthlessly efficient against the 19-year-old as she became just the 17th Australian female player to win a grand slam.
“It’s remarkable,” Barty said.
“At the moment it’s a bit too much and a bit out there, really.
“But it’s amazing.We have done the work, and we tried to put ourselves in these positions. Now that we’re here, it’s just incredible.”
Barty’s success in Paris means she is the ninth different winner from the last 10 slams and a genuine contender for Wimbledon next month on her favourite surface of grass.
Five years after quitting the sport in despair, Barty has now joined Australian legends Margaret Court (1962, ’64, ’69, ’70, ’73), Evonne Goolagong Cawley (1971) and Lesley Bowrey (1963, ’65) on the Roland Garros honour roll
“For the last fortnight, the stars have aligned for me,” she said.
“I have been able to play really good tennis when I’ve needed it.
“I never dreamt that I’d be sitting here with this trophy here at the French Open.
“I mean, obviously we have dreams and goals as children, but this is incredible.”
The new queen of clay will also pocket a cool $3.74 million after taking out her maiden grand slam at a tournament where she’d never passed the second round on five previous visits.
Her new ranking will be the highest of an Australian woman since Goolagong Cawley reached top spot in 1976, and she follows her idol’s footsteps by becoming the second Indigenous Australian to lift the Suzanne Lenglen Cup.
“Evonne sent me a text a couple days ago and said this was her first grand slam,” she said.
“I spotted her name on the trophy. I’ll give her a call a little bit later on.
“She’s created this path for indigenous tennis in Australia and I think now it’s becoming more nationwide.
“There are more opportunities for kids to start playing tennis, both male and female.”
Barty will catch up with her parents, who missed the chance to get to Paris after flying in to the UK from Brisbane just hours before she went on court.
Barty’s mother Josie has relatives in Nottingham, and along with her dad Rob, they watched her triumph, just hours after landing at Birmingham airport.
“It was planned they were always coming to the UK,” she said.
“It just so happened they were flying in today.
“There was never, you know, a kind of spark in my mind or question that they would come here for me.
“I know they’re watching. I know they are living through every single point with me and every single ride with me.”
“They flew in and only landed an hour or two before we actually went on the court. So there was no physical possibility they could get to Paris.
“I will see them tomorrow. You know, obviously give them a big hug and a big kiss. It will be really nice to see them again, because it’s been a few weeks.”
clipper
Roar Rookie
Great win for Barty - very consistent and has a good tennis brain, moving Marketa around. Kept her composure all week and spoke well - some of the Aussie guys should take note. With Osaka only a couple of hundred points ahead she has a good chance to get to No. 1 - both went out in round 3 at Wimbledon last year, but Barty won at Nottingham, beating Osaka in the semis, so has more points to defend there.
Brainstrust
Roar Rookie
Barty hopefully sees this as only the start and gets some more grand slam titles or high placings good to get another title, final, semi final. Even quarters is half a million. Thats where all the money is in womens tennis. Most of the top 10 are getting older, of course Serena is really getting on. Osaka is filling the void, Barty should grab a big piece of it. The big player for womens in the future looks to be 17 year old Animosova who Barty met in the semi final and was leading Barty in that match. I dont expect Barty to be a Tomic or Kyrgios who would go on a bender if they made a quarter final but the next two years are one she needs to make the most of.
tsuru
Roar Rookie
Or maybe it's because everyone is up late watching Nadal & Thiem.
tsuru
Roar Rookie
Yes James. You're right. But there's still only 18 comments. There are currently 830 on the latest episode of the Folau soap opera. I guess Australian "observers" are more intellectually interested in the finer points of contract law and religious freedom than sport.
jameswm
Roar Guru
It’s Sunday. Usually less posts. I was skiing... But woke up and first thing I did was check that result!!
BA Sports
Roar Guru
Great stuff for Ash. Agree with some of the other posts that it is disappointing how few posts there are regarding this feet from "sports fans". Had the good fortune of following Ash closely when I worked in tennis and hoped she would kick on to bigger and better things - Was always humble, was always respectful. After the match I particularly like how tactfully she deflected the on court interviewers search for a comment about how great this must be fore her as it was the scene of so many triumphs for Margaret Court and she just focused on commenting on how her mate Sam Stosur had done well at RG in the past. Perfectly handled. If Ash could go on to be a house hold name and win a few more slams, it could do all sorts of great things for tennis, womens sport and indigenous sport (particularly for women). Great stuff.
Doctor Rotcod
Roar Rookie
Excellent stuff from Barty. She wins by a combination of building points and serve breaking, that will have her in good shape for the grass season She doesn't need a blistering serve or heavy duty returns. She plays just a bit harder than any of her opponents. Remember that clay is her least favourite surface.
Statler and Waldorf
Roar Guru
Great effort. She looks very calm and composed on and off the court
matth
Roar Guru
Great win Ash Barty. After a hard semi this never looked in doubt. Deserves every accolade coming her way.
tsuru
Roar Rookie
Fionn, surely you have learned over this past few weeks that the only things that attract lots of comments on The Roar are Israel Folau's online comments. But seriously, I agree that less than 20 comments about an Australian sporting triumph on the world stage is disappointing. I wonder what proportion of Australians have actual experience playing tennis compared to the those who have actually played rugby.
wixsy21
Guest
Absolute champ. At no stage did she not look like winning comfortably!! Cool customer.......
Kangas
Guest
Great reward for her many years of effort. Makes this old Aussie very proud l cash rafter Hewitt Stosur Barty Yvonne
Fraser
Roar Rookie
Awesome stuff Ash! You're an inspiration and a champion.
torchbearer
Guest
Yes, no woman will want to be drawn against her in Wimbledon in a few weeks..
Oblonsky‘s Other Pun
Roar Guru
Makes me sad this doesn't have more comments. Ash is a fantastic player and a humble person. She has more variety in her game than any of our recent players, men or women, and is bamboozling plenty of far more powerful female players with her all court game. And this was on her weakest surface! If she can back up mentally, she will be a huge threat at Wimbledon, as grass is her best.
Punter
Roar Rookie
Well done Ash!!!
Birdy
Roar Rookie
Very tongue in cheek . Majority really don't care.
IAP
Guest
I just celebrate Australians winning; I don’t care if they’re male or female. One in all in, not division.
Birdy
Roar Rookie
Love how our women lead our sporting revivals. Onya Barty
Dutski
Roar Guru
Champion! Hope this is the start of ongoing success at the highest level.