The rarest of qualities that places Ash Barty in the company of greatness and all of our hearts
What is it that makes Ash Barty so endearing to all of us? Her immense ability and remarkable comeback? Leo Schlink writes it is something much greater than that — something that stands her alongside Roger Federer.
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Ashleigh Barty and Roger Federer share a rare gift.
It extends far beyond the “junk slice” the pair employs to bamboozle unsuspecting power merchants.
What Federer has contrived for two decades is to make people feel good about themselves by the way he carries himself.
He has mastered the art of understated perfection, giving those who adore him the ultimate vicarious experience.
Everyone wants to be Fed.
Like Federer, but on a smaller scale, Barty has contrived the same.
The #BartyParty is still raging in Paris. The morning after @ashbar96 conquered #RG19, our new grand slam champ is showing off the silverware to the world's tennis media.
— Herald Sun Sport (@heraldsunsport) June 9, 2019
MORE: https://t.co/yyNiFQdy4l
🎥: @LeoSchlink pic.twitter.com/cvKogJeOfY
Spend enough time in the self-effacing Queenslander’s company and life is a simpler and better place.
Like Federer, Barty makes simplicity irresistibly fashionable.
In age where insolence and self-indulgence rule, Barty has become a torchbearer for decency.
She has nowhere the same level of adulation Federer has amassed during his phenomenal career.
Yet. But her growing impact is telling.
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Barty’s popularity among peers is one thing. The anecdotal feedback of the Australian public is another.
Australia has yearned too long for a return to the halcyon days of international domination.
The days of sun-bronzed Aussies — men and women — ruling the tennis world are long gone.
The re-inclusion of tennis as an Olympic sport took the sport away from its Commonwealth roots, transforming it into a global pursuit.
With that explosion, the sport has been steadily sullied by the antics of clowns and yobs.
Australia has had too many.
The double-edged sword of fading influence and the proliferation of brats in the Australian game sits uncomfortably with the former champions who represented the country so magnificently.
Along comes Federer, with powerful links to Australia, and his vicarious gift.
If for true patriots, Federer’s legacy is enormous.
Then along comes Barty, the ideal antidote to boorish under-performers who have commanded attention for too long.
Like Federer, Barty is an exceptional athlete who just happens to be an even better person.
In Australian tennis, that used to be rule rather than exception.
Now, after the traumas separating Sam Stosur’s rise to the top and Barty’s, there is a belated — but overwhelmingly welcome — tilt towards decency.
Barty didn’t have to excel at the French Open to change the narrative.
She had already done that in her with her immense modesty and normality.
Like Federer, she has the entire tennis community eating out of the palm of her hand.
And she’s a grand slam champion.
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