Bash Hearty to serve for the championship
Go Basher!!

(Ash Barty - Wimbledon)

Duece

Yeah!
pint sized punk she is

I am a Kiwi so do not usually/often barrack for Australians. But this one's a gem.

I don't usually do tennis, but that was definitely worth watching. So happy for Ash Barty, that was awesome.

Good value. I'm glad it went to 3 sets.
That second set was the toenail biter.

I like the way she is so focussed - but not in the usual machine kind of way.
You can clearly read the oscillations in her head, the lapses, then watch her consciously zone right back into faultlessness when the pressure steps up. "classy"
- all 'round good human too.

She is a legend. Such a popular athlete too.
Hoping the break of a 40-yr drought is a good omen too for England. Desperate to have them win.

SternAAlbifrons wrote: ↑Sat Jul 10, 2021 11:49 pm Good value. I'm glad it went to 3 sets.
That second set was the toenail biter.

I like the way she is so focussed - but not in the usual machine kind of way.
You can clearly read the oscillations in her head, the lapses, then watch her consciously zone right back into faultlessness when the pressure steps up. "classy"
- all 'round good human too.

The Czech was so determined in that second set, good for her to take it and get herself back in the game. Barty though, what a legend.

Whatzup with Ash Barty, the new star of Australian tennis ?

‘She made me proud’: Goolagong Cawley hails Ash Barty’s Wimbledon win
Australian Associated Press
Sun 11 Jul 2021 09.01 BST
Tennis legend and Wiradjuri woman Evonne Goolagong Cawley has paid a heartfelt tribute to “little sister” Ash Barty, saying she just sensed it was “her time” to win Wimbledon during Naidoc week.

Barty’s nerve-wracking 6-3, 6-7 (4-7), 6-3 final victory over Czech Karolina Pliskova overnight came 10 years after she won the Wimbledon girls’ singles title at age 15 and exactly 50 years after Goolagong Cawley hoisted the Venus Rosewater Dish for the first time.

Video released on Sunday shows the moment Barty’s family erupted with joy in their living room on the Gold Coast when their daughter and sister converted match point.

In a poignant gesture to her Indigenous idol and mentor, Barty wore a Fila dress inspired by Goolagong’s 1971 Wimbledon outfit, designed by Ted Tinling who revolutionised tennis fashion, throughout her triumphant campaign.

“I hope I made Evonne proud,” Barty said during an emotional victory speech.

Goolagong Cawley left her in no doubt. “Oh she certainly did,” the former world No 1 said from her home on Queensland’s Sunshine Coast on Sunday. “She made me proud from the first time I saw Ash. She must have been about 13.

“She was playing at the Australian Open and [my husband] Roger and I stayed and watched for a bit and we saw one whole point where she showed all the skills.

“She did the slice, the volley, the smash. Everything in one game and we both just looked at each other and thought ‘oh, she’s got it, she’s going to be our next champion’. So look at her now.”

No Australian woman had won Wimbledon since Goolagong Cawley snared the title for a second time, then as a mother, in 1980.

Little wonder the 69-year-old said she choked up watching Barty’s win, then the heartwarming victory speech, as the stars aligned so beautifully.

“Because everyone reacts differently when they win Wimbledon for the first time. It didn’t hit me till later on because you actually turn numb. You’re in shock, just as Ash was at the end there,” Goolagong Cawley said.

“We were just so excited. Dreams do come true. I was just so chuffed when she wore that dress. I just said to her ‘if it brings you, it brought me luck’. She’s just amazing’.

“I’m just so much very, very proud with Ash and the way she handles herself. Not just on the court but off the court, too.”

So amazing that the 2020 Young Australian of the Year has thrust herself into the front-running to join fellow tennis great Pat Rafter as a winner of the major gong this year.

“She’s a great Australian. Everybody loves her,” Goolagong Cawley said. “Every time I go out shopping everybody asks me about Ash. How’s Ash going? Isn’t she wonderful? Yes she is. Ash to me is like a little sister and part of my family. So I think we treat each other that way.
https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2021/ ... bledon-win

Was a long time coming... Good on her!