Aussie delight as Goolagong hails Barty feat
AFTER winning her first Wimbledon title, Ash Barty said with a quaver in her voice: ‘I hope I made Evonne proud.’ Later that night, her hero responded. ‘She certainly did,’ said Evonne Goolagong Cawley. ‘She made me proud from the first time I saw her. ‘She must have been 13 and she was playing at the Australian Open. Roger (Goolagong Cawley’s husband) and I saw one point where she showed all the skills. We looked at each other and said, “She’s got it, she’s going to be our next champion”. Look at her now.’ Now Barty is the queen of SW19 after beating Karolina Pliskova 6-3, 6-7, 6-3 on Saturday. She won Wimbledon exactly 50 years after fellow Australian Goolagong Cawley, with whom she shares indigenous heritage and a deep bond. ‘My family when they were watching me win Wimbledon, they were jumping up, crying, screaming — exactly what we were doing (watching Barty). I’m just so very much proud of Ash, the way she handles herself, not just on the court but off the court, too,’ said Goolagong Cawley, who was watching from her home in Australia. ‘She’s a great Australian, everybody loves her. Every time I go out shopping everybody asks me about Ash — “How’s Ash going? What’s Ash doing? Isn’t she wonderful?” Yes she is.’ To add to the sense that Barty’s victory was written in the stars, it came during National Aborigines and Islanders Day Observance Committee Week, a celebration of indigenous history and culture. ‘All the way through I had the feeling that she’s going to win,’ said Goolagong Cawley. ‘This is her time. Somebody up there’s looking down on us I think. I remember when I was growing up there were Aboriginal kids who weren’t allowed in clubs, so we’ve come a long way. Through our programme we’ve developed a few upand-coming tennis players, and now they have an even greater role model in Ash.’ Next for Barty comes the Olympics followed by the US Open. Then at long last, having left in March with a suitcase and a dream, she will go home. Home to Australia, to Rob, and to Evonne.