Tennis: Ash Barty and the art of keeping your nose clean

World No 1 Ash Barty — great at playing tennis and avoiding dramas. Picture: Michael Klein

Here’s one example of Ash Barty keeping her nose clean.

She was playing Alison Riske on Australia Day at last year’s Australian Open. She’d just been named Young Australian of the Year. Her match came amid Invasion Day protests in the Melbourne CBD. American on-court interviewer Jim Courier unwittingly triggered a moment of awkwardness, among viewers, when he raised the topic of Australia Day with a Ngarigo woman while thousands of Indigenous and non-Indigenous Australians were marching against the January 26 date for so-called national celebrations.

Barty skipped through the interview with Courier. Later, in her formal press conference, she said: “Why would it be awkward? It’s not for me to decide what day Australia Day is on. I’m staying true to my values. I am extremely proud of my heritage. That’s going to remain the same every single day of every single year for the rest of my life.”

She added: “It doesn’t really matter what day it is. I’m just trying to be the best that I can be. I’m just trying to be true to myself and stick to the values that my mum and dad taught me, that my family have kind of instilled in me growing up.

“I mean, I wasn’t aware of the protest. I wasn’t keeping an eye on it. I’m a proud Indigenous woman and I’m a proud Australian. For me, it doesn’t matter what day of the year it is. I’m going to stay true to my values all throughout the year, all throughout my life.

“Every single day I want to be kind, I want to be honest, I want to be humble, I want to give the best that I can. That’s all that matters for me.”

And I remember thinking, that’s the end of that.

Here’s another example of Barty keeping her nose clean. Margaret Court’s haters were hating like never before when she received her Australia Day honour this year. As the face of Australian tennis and someone who’s followed Court’s footsteps into the world No 1 ranking, Barty was always going to be asked about it.

Barty said: “The people who make those decisions sit on a panel or a board and make those decisions for a reason. You cannot take away all of the results and all of what Margaret achieved on the tennis court, it was absolutely remarkable.

“From the point of her personal views, I don’t agree with them, but that is really all I have to say about it. There are people who make those decisions and it’s not my decision.”

At the time, Cricket Australia had earned the ire of Prime Minister Scott Morrison for ditching “Australia Day” from its promotions. Asked about this, too, Barty pretty much repeated her remarks from the year before.

“I’m an extremely proud Indigenous woman,” she said. “I’m a proud Australian. I celebrate that every day. For me, it doesn’t really matter what day it is. I’m staying true to my values. Every single day I want to be kind, I want to be honest, I want to be humble. I want to give the best that I can. That’s all that matters for me.”

And I remember thinking, that’s the end of that.

Here’s a third example of Barty keeping her nose clean. When tennis players were on the nose in Melbourne in January for being allowed into the city in their thousands while locals were stranded interstate or overseas, Barty went shopping at a supermarket without wearing a mask. Imagine Novak Djokovic or Nick Kyrgios or Bernie Tomic doing that. You great buffoons, you’re going to get us all killed!

Barty was criticised, too, for failing to adhere to the mask-wearing mantra that was in play for Melbourne at the time. She released a public statement that said, “I accidentally forgot to wear a mask in a supermarket in Melbourne. I apologised as soon as I realised my mistake. I understand we all need to do our bit to keep the community safe and I will be better next time.”

And I remember thinking, that’s going to be the end of that. She’s totally and completely mastered the art of keeping her nose clean. Nothing is more controversial than the Invasion Day versus Australia Day debate. Few things are more polarising in tennis than reconciling Court’s phenomenal career with her damnation of the LGBT community. Barty tiptoed in and tiptoed straight back out again.

She committed the great no-no of breathing all over everyone and everything in a supermarket but once she said sorry, it was never mentioned again. Australia Day? It’s not my job to choose the date. Court’s honour? I didn’t give it to her. No mask? Jeez, sorry! The masterful art of keeping ones nose clean.

And good on her for that. Live simply. Don’t get involved in stuff you don’t want to be involved in. If it’s not her thing, it’s not her thing. She plays 29th-seeded Russian Ekaterina Alexandrova on Rod Laver Arena on Saturday night. She will do what she always does. She will walk out, do a wave with her left hand and give an understated closed-mouth smile. If she wins, she will tap her left hand on her racquet strings in a clap of tanks and do the same smile. She will tell her audience how much she appreciates their attendance and the chance to play on “this beautiful court.”

It’s harmless and light. All she wants to do is play tennis, and have a crack at winning the Open, and leave politics to the politicians, and leave the drama to the drama queens. No nose has ever been as clean as this. Her message appeals to all. Just be the best you can be. Leave everything else to everyone else.

Here’s a final example of Barty keep her nose clean. When she blew it in last year’s Open against Sofia Kenin, when she lost a semi-final match she should have won, she rocked up to her press conference holding a baby. Jeez, we thought. That was quick. No one even knew you were pregnant! It was her toddler niece.

Reporters were ready to pepper her with the predictable conversation. You must be shattered to lose. What a disappointment this must be. You could have won the Open. We barely got the chance. She put the baby on her knee and said, “It‘s my newest niece. My sister just had her 11 or 12 weeks ago. This is what life’s about. It’s amazing.”

And that was the end of that.