5 things you need to know about Ashleigh Barty

After her triumph at Roland Garros last June, the spotlights are firmly fixed on this discreet Australian champion! Ashleigh Barty is enchanting the tennis world with her talent and simplicity.

She has since confirmed her status as the queen of world tennis by stepping into the world No.1 spot. Here are five things you need to know about our reigning champion.

World No.1

Hailing from the city of Ipswich in Queensland, Australia, child prodigy Ashleigh Barty won the Wimbledon juniors tournament at the tender age of 15. Already well-known back home in Oz, “Ash” came into the spotlight only this year in France, on the red clay at Roland Garros.

The first Australian to win the women’s singles at Roland Garros since her compatriot Margaret Court in 1973, she also became the 51st woman to win a Grand Slam since the start of the Open era. Her victory at the Porte d'Auteuil moved her into second position in the WTA rankings, giving her a taste for life at the top.

After the Birmingham tournament at the end of June, she shot into the world No.1 spot, the first Australian woman to take the throne since Evonne Goolagong-Cawley in 1976.

A talented cricket player

After the 2014 US Open, suffering from a severe bout of homesick having spent so much time away from her loved ones, she decided to put her tennis career on hold. This hiatus was the making of her, and enabled her to discover the joys of cricket!

A veritable institution in Australia, this sport is extremely popular all over the world, but still relatively unknown in France. However, legend has it that the sport was actually invented by the French!

Ashleigh Barty first joined Queensland Fire then Brisbane Heat cricket teams and played at semi-professional level for 18 months, before she started missing tennis and the tour!

Start the day with a coffee!

To kickstart her day, Ashleigh Barty turns to coffee, in any shape or form: expresso, cappuccino, latte...

She often shares her morning routine on her Instagram, and this daily caffeine fix could be the secret to her success on court!

Whether in Rome, Paris, Madrid, Miami or Montreal, Ashleigh’s morning always starts the same way, and she never forgets to photograph her coffee-drinking ritual to share with her fans!

An ambassador for indigenous tennis

With Aborigine blood from her father, Robert, who is from the Ngarigo community of indigenous people, Ashleigh Barty is passionate about defending their cause and even became an ambassador for indigenous tennis in Australia in 2018. According to Tennis Australia, her mission is to scout out potential tennis champions among the country’s indigenous populations.

"We need to let children know that it’s a career opportunity,” she says, proudly asserting her origins. One of her great idols, Evonne Goolagong-Cawley, is from an Australian Aboriginal family, and she won seven Grand Slam singles titles, including one at Roland Garros in 1971.

Her winning style

On 9th June, Ashleigh Barty modestly lifted the Coupe Suzanne-Lenglen on Centre Court at Roland Garros. The way she sealed her victory, in a highly effective manner that is all her own, says a lot about this new icon and queen of world tennis.