Update: Ash Barty has become the first Australian woman since Margaret Court in 1973 to win the French Open.
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.
It was the first time since the great Margaret Court in 1973 that an Australian woman has claimed the title.
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. I have been able to play really good tennis when I’ve needed it,” she said.
“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.”
Top Comments
The thing that stands out to me here is that when she was struggling with the pressure, she stopped playing and took the time to figure out what she wanted to do. Tomic and Kyrgios would do well to follow her example, makes me wonder why they haven’t. Great to see her doing so well, she’s clearly worked very hard and it’s all paying off for her.
I don't agree with the author that Barty "[quit] the sport in despair"; after the French Open, Barty told reporters "she had not said, I'm never playing tennis again." But I agree with you that she recognised she needed the break to figure out how to cope with the pressure. I don't expect Tomic to figure it out - his support crew are only encouraging his behaviour; but Kyrgios' family is supposedly much more down to earth, so maybe they will learn something from Barty's example. I suspect the problem may be that - unlike Barty - Kyrgios doesn't actually enjoy tennis, in which case I hope he reads Angre Agassi's excellent autobiography, Open.
Agreed. Just wanted to add if you liked that, you should read the two McEnroe autobiographies - Seriously and But Seriously