The Australian’s Australian of the Year: Golden girl Ash Barty on top of the tennis world

Ash Barty’s star continues to rise as the world No. 1 stares down a tough Australian Open draw.

World No. 1 Ash Barty. Picture: Annette Dew

Ever since her return to international tennis in 2016, world No.1 Ash Barty has never looked back.

In 2014, Barty shocked the tennis world when she announced she was stepping away from the sport and taking up cricket with the Brisbane Heat in the Women’s Big Bash League.

At the time, Barty said she’d grown disenchanted with tennis, was tired of being on the road all the time and living away from family and friends. But after 10 matches with the Heat she realised tennis was her true calling.

Barty credited her surprise return to the international stage to retired tennis star Casey Dellacqua, who helped her rekindle her passion and love for the game.

Born in Ipswich, Queensland in 1996, by the age of nine Barty was already practising against boys six years her senior; by 12 she was competing against adult males; at 15, she was a Wimbledon junior champion.

Having launched her dramatic comeback in early 2016, a year later Barty remained outside the top 250 in singles and doubles rankings. By the end of the year she was inside the top 20 in both.

After winning her first doubles grand slam title at the US Open in 2018, Barty won the French Open singles title in 2019 and triumphed at Wimbledon in a classic final against Czech player Karolina Pliskova last year.

She was the first Australian woman to win Wimbledon since Evonne Goolagong won the second of her two titles in 1980 and only the third Australian woman to win the title in the Open era after Goolagong and Margaret Court. As of late December she has been at the top of the world rankings for 100 consecutive weeks.

Barty has also become one of the game’s most popular players because of her skill, humility and approach to the sport, all qualities that make her a worthy candidate for The Australian’s Australian of the Year.

Readers are encouraged to submit a nomination for The Australian’s Australian of the Year. Prominent Australians can be nominated by filling out the form, or emailing to [e-mail]. Nominations close on Friday, January 21.