Ashleigh Barty
Australia’s Ashleigh Barty, doubtless an immensely skilled tennis player, has made big news for other reasons, namely her big shift from tennis to cricket, and back to tennis. Barty first made news in 2013 when, aged only seventeen, she made the finals of the Australian Open with compatriot Casey Dellacqua.
The pair eventually lost to Italy’s Sara Errani and Roberta Vinci, but Barty had already made her mark.
A former girls’ singles champion at Wimbledon, Barty had already won three doubles titles on the WTA Tour when, in 2014, she decided to switch sports, becoming a cricketer instead – but not without reason. Also a talented batswoman, Barty was immediately selected by Brisbane Heat for the inaugural Women’s Big Bash League.
She returned to tennis in 2016, but then had a slow start – with 2017 a much more successful year for her already. Starting the year at the Brisbane International, Barty took Angelique Kerber to three sets before losing, and followed up with her first ever Australian Open match win soon after, eventually finishing in Round 3.
Simultaneously, she also made the quarter-finals in the women’s doubles, again with Casey Dellacqua, losing to No. 1 seeds Caroline Garcia and Kristina Mladenovic.
At the Malaysian Open this year, Barty entered as a qualifier – and eventually beat Japan’s Nao Hibino for the title, marking Barty’s first ever singles crown. She also took top honours in the doubles with Casey Dellacqua, and currently sits at 92nd in the rankings.
Expectations are high with Barty, but so is her talent, attested to by the fact that she won her first WTA singles title in under 12 months since she returned to the sport.
