Photo to connect Aussie legends
ASH Barty cannot wait for a show-and-tell moment with Evonne Goolagong Cawley where she will reveal the secret Wimbledon tribute that melted her heart and linked the legends for life.
It seems world No.1 Barty’s popularity stretches all the way to the Wimbledon locker room, where female attendants decided to do some unconventional interior decorating to honour Barty’s Wimbledon win this year, 50 years after her idol Goolagong Cawley won the same title in 1971.
“Not a lot of people know that in that locker room there are no photos – but this day after the final there was one put up of Evonne,’’ Barty said during a photo shoot for a new Uber Eats commercial.
“One of the coolest moments came when I got back and the locker room ladies had put this black-and-white photo of Evonne when she won 50 years ago on the door as I walked past.
“I got a photo of myself holding up my (Wimbledon) members pin for the first time in front of that photo of Evonne.
“I just cannot wait to show Evonne that photo because she will understand how mysterious the Wimbledon women’s locker room is.
“I don’t think the photo of us needs to be out there in public, but I cannot wait to share it with Evonne, knowing she had had that moment as well.’’
Barty is about to leave her new Brisbane home to play events in Adelaide and Sydney before next month’s Australian Open in Melbourne where she plans to meet with fellow Indigenous legend Goolagong Cawley for the first time since her Wimbledon success.
“I can’t wait to see her,” Barty said.
“I will give her a hug and to connect with her will be a simple thing for us.’’
Barty has been world No.1 for just over two years, and while the top ranking has weighed heavily on many shoulders, including a former Australian male No.1 who started having nightmares when he became the top gun, Barty is philosophical about her lifespan at the top.
“If I wake up one morning if I am No.1 and the next morning I am No.10 it does not change how I feel as a person,” she said.
“A really important part of my life is being at peace with who I am.
“At the moment it is just this added bonus that we are sitting on top of the world and it has been a hell of ride to try and get there.
“The thing is, I know I have done so much hard work to get to this point, but it was never a guarantee.
“You have to earn every single little bit of it. But those are not the things in life which make me the happiest.’’
Barty will hire a house in Melbourne but she is not planning any extreme measures to avoid the Covid threat.
“Typically when I am playing tournaments I don’t do a lot outside the hotel room other than going to practice courts,” the “homebody” said.