Sydney: Australia hailed “bloody legend” Ashleigh Barty on Sunday after she ended the country’s 46-year wait for a French Open singles title with a crushing victory in Paris.
Some of the nation’s top sportspeople took to social media to congratulate the 23-year-old in the wake of her 6-1, 6-3 whipping of Czech teenager Marketa Vondrousova which propelled her to number two in the world. Wallabies veteran Adam Ashley-Cooper, who has been tweeting his support for Barty throughout the tournament, also offered congratulations.
The new queen of clay joined Australian legends Margaret Court, Evonne Goolagong Cawley and Lesley Bowrey on the Roland Garros honour roll. Her achievement also made her the first Aussie woman to win a Grand Slam since Samantha Stosur at the US Open in 2011.
Barty, who famously took a break from tennis late in 2014 to play professional cricket, quickly took advantage of Vondrousova’s nerves to take a stranglehold on the final. Australian coach Darren Cahill, who helped steer former world number one Simona Halep to the French Open title last year, said the whole nation was proud of what Barty had achieved, and how she went about it. “So so bloody good, Ashleigh Barty. We Aussies are all so damn proud of her and what’s she’s done for Aussie tennis,” he said. (AFP)
