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“There are a lot of hours and a lot of sacrifices you have to make to achieve your dreams as a tennis player”. Ashleigh Barty is an Australian professional tennis player. Ranked no.1 in the world in singles by the Women’s Tennis Association (WTA). Legendary Australian Tennis Player Ashleigh Barty is famous for using her throwback style, filled with volleys, slices, lobs, and intelligent shot placement. Barty is well known for her athletic versatility, having briefly switched to professional cricket for a couple of years. She has also been a top 10 player in doubles, having achieved a career-high ranking of No. 5 in the world. With a long list of titles under her belt like two Grand Slam singles titles, 2019 French open and 2021 Wimbledon championships, and one Grand Slam doubles title at the 2018 US open, Barty is an unbeatable force. She is also the reigning champion in singles at the WTA Finals. In this blog, we will explore the life and journey of Legendary Australian Tennis Player Ashleigh Barty!
This Blog Includes:
- Early Life
- Junior Career
- Professional Career
- 2010 – 2012: Australian Open Debut at 15, Top 200
- 2013 – 2014: Breakthrough in Doubles
- 2015 – 2016: Barty Takes A Break From Tennis, Switch To Cricket!
- 2017: Breakthrough in Singles
- 2018: US Open Doubles
- 2019: French Open and WTA Finals
- 2020: Ash Barty Reached Hometown Due To Pandemic Hit
- 2021: Return To Court, Continued Success
- Ashleigh Barty’s National Representation
- Ashleigh Barty Playing Style
- Ashleigh Barty Awards
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| Country | Australia |
| Age | 25 |
| Birth Date | 24 April 1996 |
| Birth Place | Ipswich, Queensland, Australia |
| Height | 5 ft. 5 inch |
| Weight | N/A |
| Plays | Right Handed |
| Championships Played | 8 |
| Events Entered | Ladies’ Singles |
| Best Singles | W, (2021) |
| Best Doubles | R, (2013) |
| Career Matches Won | 187 |
| Career Matches Lost | 71 |
| High Rank for Singles | 1 |
| High Rank for Doubles | 5 |
| Career Prize Money | $21,104,530 USD |
Early Life
Ashleigh Barty was born on 24 April 1996. Her father Robert Barty had grown up in rural North Queensland and later worked for the State Library of Queensland. Barty’s mother Josie works as a radiographer and is the daughter of English Immigrants. Barty grew up in Springfield, a suburb of Ipswich, Queensland. She has two older sisters named Sara and Ali. Ash has attended Woodcrest State College throughout her upbringing. Later, Barty started working with the longtime Junior Coach Jim Joyce at the West Brisbane Tennis Centre at the age of four. Joyce remarked he never trained children as young as Ashleigh but made an exception because of her excellent hand-eye coordination and high level of focus.
Junior Career
Ashleigh Barty reached a career-high ITF world junior ranking of no. 2, having excelled at both singles and doubles. Here are the key events in her junior career:
- ITF Junior Circuit in 2009, title Grade 4 Australian International
- Grade 2 title in Thailand
- Junior Grand Slam event in 2011 at Australian Open
- Sarawak Chief Minister’s Cup in Malaysia
- Belgian International Junior Championships
- Grand Slam title at 2011 Wimbledon
- Grade – 1 titles in doubles at Roehampton and Canadian Open
- Junior Fed Cup Australia
- Singles and Doubles at the Torneo International Italy
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Professional Career
2010 – 2012: Australian Open Debut at 15, Top 200
Ashleigh Barty started her professional career in 2010 just after turning 14 at an International Tennis Federation. In 2011, she entered three more USD 25k events in Australia, with her best results being two quarterfinals. Barty closed out the year by competing in a playoff for one of the Australian wildcard berths into the main draw of the 2012 Australian Open.
2013 – 2014: Breakthrough in Doubles
Singles: First WTA tour win, first Grand Slam match win
In 2013, Barty began playing primarily at the WTA tour level. In 2013, in the Australian Open singles main draw, Barty lost her opening match. Towards the end of February, she won her first two WTA tour-level matches at the Malaysian Open against Chanel Simmonds and Zarina Dyas before her run ended in the quarter-finals. In 2014, she qualified for Brisbane International.
Doubles: Three Grand Slam finals, one WTA title
In doubles, Barty partnered with Dellacqua in eight WTA Tour-level events during the 2013 season, including all four Grand Slam tournaments. She made it to three out of four such events and became a runner-up, only failing to reach the final at the French Open where she lost in the first round. At Wimbledon and US Open, Barty and Dellacqua defeated three of the top ten seeds at both events.
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2015 – 2016: Barty Takes A Break From Tennis, Switch To Cricket!
After the 2014 US Open, Barty announced she was taking a break from professional tennis. Barty became interested in potentially playing cricket after meeting with the Australian Women’s national team in early 2015. She had no competitive cricket experience previously, but later approached Queensland Cricket and Andy Richards the coach of the Queensland and fire and soon to be the coach of Brisbane heat.
In 2016, Barty announced her plans to professional tennis in February a few weeks after the end of the WBBL. At this point, she began working with Craig Tyzzer as her coach. In her first two months, she played five tournaments and won three of them. Barty returned to singles in late May. She qualified for the Eastbourne Trophy.
2017: Breakthrough in Singles
Singles: First WTA title, world no. 17
In 2017, Barty reunited with Dellacqua as her regular doubles partner. Barty started with the Australian Open, reaching the third round. Her next was the Malaysian Open, where she had won her first WTA singles. She qualified for both singles and doubles. This was her first career with WTA singles titles and she entered the top 100 for the first time. During the US Open, she played Canadian open and Cincinnati open. At Cincinnati, she defeated world no. 9 Venus Williams.
Doubles: Fourth Grand Slam runner-up, WTA finals berth
In the 2017 season, Barty and Dellacqua reached the quarterfinals. Later, they made it to the finals at the French Open to become the first Australian women’s doubles team to reach all four Grand Slam finals.
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2018: US Open Doubles
Singles: WTA Elite Trophy
In 2018, Ashleigh Barty had a strong start to the season. Barty reached the final of Sydney International in her second tournament of the year. She entered the Grand Slam Tournament for the first time at no. 18. Later, Barty won the Nottingham Open for her second career WTA title and defeated British No. 1 Johanna Konta in the final. Having maintained her top 20 rankings, she was able to qualify for the year-end WTA Elite Trophy for the second straight season.
Doubles: First Grand Slam and Premier Mandatory Titles
Ashleigh Barty and Dellacqua reached the third round of the Australian Open. This was the last WTA tournament before Dellacqua’s retirement. Ashleigh got a new partner Coco Vandeweghe and played her next three doubles events, and the pair had their best success in the United States where they won the Miami Open.
2019: French Open and WTA Finals
Singles: First Grand Slam and Premier Mandatory Titles
For the second consecutive year, Barty began the season with a runner-up finish at Sydney International losing to Petra Kvitova. She made it to the fourth-round appearance at the Indian Wells Open, Barty won the Miami Open for her first Premier Mandatory title. In the French Open, Barty played only two clay-court events. She closed out the clay-court season by winning her first Grand Slam singles title at the French Open.
Doubles: Premier 5 title, US Open runner up
With Coco being injured, Ashleigh Barty was partnered with Victoria Azarenka. They reached the semifinals of the Miami Open and won their first title together at the Italian Open, a Premier 5 event. During the summer, they reached another Premier 5 semifinal at the Canadian Open. By defeating and losing, somehow, they made it to the finals. Although they only played eight tournaments during the season, they nearly qualified for the WTA finals, falling one spot short in ninth place.
2020: Ash Barty Reached Hometown Due To Pandemic Hit
Ashleigh Barty started her season in her hometown, at the Brisbane International losing to qualifier Jennifer Brady. After taking a rest break, Barty returned to the court making her debut at the Qatar Open, the first premier 5 tournaments of the year. Later the play was suspended due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Though the WTA finals tournament resumed in august she decided to skip the rest of the year due to concerns related to travelling within the pandemic, which included deciding not to try and defend her french open crown.
2021: Return To Court, Continued Success
Singles: Wimbledon Champion and Miami Open
Ashleigh Barty resumed her season playing her first tournament outside Australia in more than a year at the Miami Open, where she was the defending champion from 2019. She went onto participate in the Charleston Open, where she was defeated by Paula Bodosa in the quarter-finals. She began her European red clay swing with her debut at the Stuttgart Open, where she won her third title of the year against Karolina Plíšková, Svitolina, and Sabalenka.
Doubles: New Partnership and Stuttgart Title
In 2021, Barty started to partner with Jennifer Brady. They did not play many matches together in the Australian and French Open due to injuries but managed to win the Stuttgart title. This was Barty’s first one since 2019.
Ashleigh Barty’s National Representation
Fed Cup
Following are the events where Ashleigh Barty won the fed cup:
- Fed Cup debut for Australia in 2013 playing in two away ties.
- Two Fed Cup ties for Australia in the 2018 tie against Ukraine.
- In 2019, Barty was instrumental in leading Australia to the Fed Cup final.
Hopman Cup
Ashleigh Barty has represented Australia in the Hopman Cup twice. She made her first appearance at the event in 2013 where she competed alongside Bernard Tomic after Dellacqua withdrew before the tournament due to a foot injury.
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Ashleigh Barty Playing Style
Ashleigh Barty Awards
Following are the awards she has won throughout her career:
- 2019: Fed Cup Heart Award & World Champion, ITF Awards
- 2019: Player of the year, WTA Awards
- 2019: The Don Award
- 2017, 2018, 2019: Newcombe Medal, Australian Tennis Awards
- 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013: Female Junior Athlete of the year, Australian Tennis Awards
- 2019: AIS Sport Performance Awards
- 2019: Australian Women’s Health Sport Awards
- 2017, 2018, 2019: Female Sportsperson, National Dreamtime Awards
- 2018: US Open
- 2020: Young Australian of the year
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It is hard to believe that Ashleigh Barty is only 25 years old and she is already Australia’s highest-ranked tennis player. Barty is continuing a proud tradition of Australian Indigenous female tennis champions, showing the opportunities for Indigenous youth are greater than ever. Follow us at Leverage Edu on Facebook and Youtube for more such inspirational success stories!
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