Ashley Barty is an Australian tennis player who became the first racket in the world in 2019. She markedly stands out among her rivals with a stable game, power and self-confidence.
Biography: early years
Ashleigh Barty was born April 24, 1996 in Ipswich, in the Australian state of Queensland. In addition to her, the family had two more older daughters - Sarah and Ellie. Father Robert worked at the National Library of the State, and mother Josie worked at the hospital as a radiologist.
Australia is considered a country of immigrants. The descendants of the Aboriginal people in it are indeed much smaller than the descendants of the inhabitants of Asia and Europe who moved there more than a century ago. Ashley is a descendant of the indigenous inhabitants of the Green Continent through his father. Mother's parents are from visitors. They moved to Australia from the UK.
Ashley began to play tennis from the age of four. In Australia, this sport is well developed, and many parents take their children to tennis sections. Ashley's parents were no exception. As a child, she also tried herself in netball. In Australia, it is no less popular than tennis. This is a female sport resembling basketball. Ashley netball quickly abandoned. She was not happy that he was "purely girlish." Ashley was also embarrassed that by then her older sisters in netball were more successful.
She decided to concentrate on tennis. Ashley always loved to train with boys who were older. Already at the age of nine, she conducted training games with fifteen-year-old boys. And at age 12, Ashley played on equal terms with adults. Of course, then her rivals were not professional players, but nonetheless.
Ashley was considered a very promising junior. In 2011, she won the Wimbledon tournament. Then she barely turned 15 years old. After that, Barty became famous in her homeland.
Ashley was good at junior level and doubles. So, in 2013, in a duet with Casey Dellacua, she reached the finals at the Australian Open and Wimbledon. Thanks to these results, Ashley became the second racket of the world in the junior ranking.
Since 2011, Barty began to literally live on wheels. She was at home only a month in a year. Ashley spent the rest of the time at training camps, training, and moving. She was enough for three years of such a life. In 2014, Ashley decided to pause her tennis career. With such a statement, she made after the US Open. Then in an interview, Ashley stated that she just wants to live the life of an ordinary teenager for some time.
At that time, she had no idea about leaving tennis. She just wanted to relax. Parents and the coach did not hinder her decision. During a pause, Barty was relaxing in nature, spending time with friends.
A few months later, she decided to try herself in another sport. The choice fell on cricket. The idea of doing team sports seemed interesting to her. She decided to start with trial training. Soon she began to play in the Brisbane City League. Ashley showed good results in cricket. She managed to score the most points in the team. She played cricket for one season.
Career
In 2016, Ashley decided to return to tennis. She started with doubles home tournaments. Barty performed in a duet with Jessica Moore. Three months later, Ashley returned to singles. Soon she was injured - a broken arm, which forced her to take a forced pause for several months. Barty returned to court only next season. She performed excellently at the tournament in Kuala Lumpur, winning in singles and doubles competitions. Despite the injury, Ashley was able to enter the top twenty in both doubles and singles.
The year 2018 was very successful for Barty. In many tournaments, she reached the final stages. And at Elite Trophy, the WTA was the winner. This is the second most important final competition. Barty completed the 2018 season, becoming the fifteenth racket of the world. Then for her it was the best result in her career.
2019 was a truly triumphant year for Ashley. The Australian Open did not obey her again, but in June she first won the Grand Slam tournament - Roland Garros. Her rival in the finals was Market Vondrusheva. Ashley got the better of her in two sets. In the same month, Barty won the tournament in Birmingham, defeating the German athlete Julia Gerges in the final. At that tournament, Ashley had one of the best innings, which, combined with a powerful forehand and very sharp undercut on the left, led to a brilliant result.
In late June, Ashley became the first racket of the world, the 27th in a row. Before her, this title was won only by one Australian - Yvonne Gulagong. It was back in 1976. Yvonne stayed on top for just two weeks. Ashley holds on already longer. She succeeded Naomi Osaka from Japan. She was at the head of the rating since January 28, 2019.
