Ashleigh Barty's coach reveals how Serena Williams pushed the World No. 1 to comeback
Ashleigh Barty's junior coach Jim Joyce recently opened up about the moment of inspiration that pushed the Australian to return to tennis after her brief break from the game. According to Joyce, it came in the form of a text message from Serena Williams.
On Sunday, Barty became the first homegrown player in 44 years to win a singles title at the Australian Open. Facing World No. 30 Danielle Collins in the final, the World No. 1 held her nerve to come out on top with a 6-3, 7-6(2) victory. In a statement of absolute dominance, the 25-year-old won the tournament without dropping a single set and had her serve broken only thrice across seven matches.
25yo Ashleigh Barty, the world number #1, comes back from 1-5 down in the 2nd set and beats Danielle Collins 6-3, 7-6(2) to become the first Australian since 1978 to win the #AusOpen in Women's Singles.
First Australian Singles champ at Melbourne Park.
3rd career singles Slam. https://t.co/rEYDii79RW
But the 3-time Grand Slam champion, who now has a Major title to her name on every surface, was not always this assured about her prowess in tennis. At the end of the 2014 US Open, Barty announced that she would be taking a break from the sport.
"My team and I have decided that right now it is best for me to take a break from professional tennis,” Barty said in a statement. “Obviously this has been a very difficult decision but after a lot of thought, we feel this is the right decision."
The following year, she did not compete at any Major. Instead, she went on to play in the Women's Big Bash League for Brisbane Heat, which resulted in her singles rankings plummeting to World No. 571 at the end of the year.
Joyce revealed to The Courier-Mail that it was during this tumultuous time that the Australian reportedly received a message from the 23-time Grand Slam champion, asking her not to leave the sport.
"Ashleigh [Barty] was in a restaurant, I think, and Serena [Williams] sent her a message saying, "You are too good a player to retire. You have to come back," Joyce said.
Ashleigh Barty's ascendancy began after the message from Serena Willilams
A phased-out return in 2016 saw Ashleigh Barty's ranking rise to World No. 272. She started playing doubles once more and played a few singles tournaments on the ITF circuit (including a wildcard to the Wimbledon qualifiers) before a bone stress injury cut her season short.
The Australian's comeback started in earnest in 2017, where she started focussing more on singles and made the top 100 for the first time in her career. She reached the second week of a Grand Slam for the first time at the 2018 US Open.
2019 French Open 🏆
2021 Wimbledon 🏆
2022 #AusOpen 🏆
Congratulations, Ash Barty! https://t.co/jvqcmEIfWp
In 2019, Ashleigh Barty reached her first Grand Slam quarterfinal at the Australian Open. She improved on the result at the French Open by going all the way to win her first Major.
The title triumph made her the WTA No. 1 in June 2019 for the first time. After briefly occupying the No. 2 spot in August, the 25-year-old has not left the top spot for 29 months.