‘Something I’ll never forget’: the secret plan to sneak Goolagong Cawley into Melbourne Park

It was a plan hatched quietly and executed with stealth. As Ash Barty progressed into week two of the Australian Open, and the idea of this player of her generation being the one to break the long home tennis drought took hold, Tennis Australia decided to have one last shot.

Craig Tiley, the chief executive of TA and tournament boss, picked up the phone to Evonne Goolagong Cawley and asked again. Would there be any chance she could make it down to Melbourne?

Goolagong Cawley had been unwell, and had declined previous approaches. She had told Barty before the tournament she wouldn’t be there.

Barty holds the trophy alongside Catherine Freeman and Evonne Goolagong Cawley.Credit: Scott Barbour/Tennis Australia

But seeing Barty go so confidently through the rounds and into the finals, her great childhood idol and mentor relented. But on one condition. She did not want her presence to be a distraction for Barty, or to make the occasion about her. So, a cloak-and-dagger plan was hatched to get Goolagong Cawley to Melbourne and to keep her presence a secret.

On Saturday, just hours before the Australian Open women’s final was to start, she flew in with her family.

Only a small handful of need-to-know people were in the loop. Broadcasters with cameras in corridors, players and trainers in warm-up rooms, people in dining areas, gardens and restaurants; there were eyes everywhere and they had to be avoided.

Australia’s great tennis champion, winner of four successive Australian Open titles between 1974 and 1977, was smuggled into Melbourne Park through back entrances. She was taken to a private room where she watched the final on TV with her family.

Ash Barty celebrates with the trophy the day after winning the Australian Open.Credit: Scott McNaughton

At the moment of the presentation, master of ceremonies Todd Woodbridge said he had a surprise, and Goolagong Cawley was revealed as the surprise dignitary to hand over the Daphne Akhurst trophy. Barty grinned bashfully and a little emotionally.

The morning after winning a third grand slam title, the new Australian Open champion was still having trouble getting her head around her idol’s surprise appearance. She admitted it was the moment of the night.

“The surprise of Evonne arriving [was the moment],” she said of her drought-breaking Australian Open win, becoming the first Australian in 44 years to win the home grand slam.

“I had spoken to her earlier in the week and knew that she wasn’t going to be coming to this tournament and to have her surprise me and hand me a beautiful trophy is a moment I will never forget.

Barty pops some champagne to celebrate her drought-breaking victory.Credit: Scott McNaughton

“When I was able to see Casey [Dellacqua] and give her a hug was a moment I will never forget either, to see my best mate on court and to be able to give her a hug and share it.”

Barty said she spent the night quietly, having a few beers with her team and getting to bed at a reasonable hour. Certainly, on Sunday morning in the Carlton Gardens she looked fresh and as if she could play another final.

One of the images of the Australian Open, and an instantly iconic Australian sporting image, was the photograph taken after the final of Barty standing with Goolagong Cawley and Catherine Freeman – three proud women, three proud Australian First Nations women who had each conquered world sport.

Barty humbly said that she still did not belong in their exalted company, notwithstanding the fact she had just won a third grand slam on a third different surface and in so doing had become, after Serena Williams, the only active female player on the current tour to win a grand slam on each of the three surfaces.

“I am certainly not at their level. Cathy and Evonne are exceptional people, exceptional athletes, and they have paved the path for so many of us. I am still in the category of trying to follow in their footsteps and be the best that I can, but to be a really small part of a legacy that they have created is really cool and I am just trying to create my own pathway and guideline of what they have done for us and our culture and heritage. They are two absolute superstars.”

Barty revealed that Freeman had been a strong mentor for her in recent years as she struggled to the top.

“Cathy’s incredible. I remember it was only a couple years ago after a semi-final loss I was on the phone to Cathy in tears and just chatting to her about her experiences. Obviously, we share a mentor, [mind coach] Ben Crowe, who’s been phenomenal for both of us but to be able to have her there to enjoy me playing my sport and my craft, I wish I could have been there to watch her do her
thing and I think just being able to share that with her was really special,” she said.

The Australian Open win was no more special than her French Open and Wimbledon victories, Barty said, but it certainly felt different to the other two.

“They are all really different, all really different stages of my career, all really different feelings and to be able to do it at home here is special and I think it is a different feeling to the others without a doubt. I am just so lucky I have been able to experience it multiple times.″⁣

News, results and expert analysis from the weekend of sport sent every Monday. Sign up for our Sport newsletter.