Ash Barty created another slice of history by becoming the first person to win a fifth Newcombe Medal at the Australian Tennis Awards on Monday night.
The former world No.1 was presented the highest individual honour in Australian tennis by John Newcombe at Melbourne’s Crown Palladium, in recognition of a breathtaking summer headlined by her Australian Open triumph.
Barty carved out an undefeated Australian summer, registering 11 singles and four doubles victories.
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After breezing through the Adelaide International singles draw, the Queenslander combined with Storm Hunter to collect the doubles crown.
Barty then won every set of her Australian Open campaign to become the host nation’s first women’s singles champion in 44 years.
“This has obviously been a very big year in my career and in my life,” said Barty, who retired from professional tennis in March.
“We’ve had exceptional change, we’ve had an amazing year of celebrating a journey of not only myself, but my team, and there is so much to be proud of.
“I stand here very proudly knowing that I absolutely fulfilled every ounce that I could to this beautiful sport that brought me so much more than I could have ever dreamt.”
‘I’m so lucky’
Barty beat six Newcombe Medal nominees to the prestigious award: Hunter, Ajla Tomljanović, Nick Kyrgios, Alex de Minaur, Matt Ebden and Max Purcell.
Barty’s record-breaking Newcombe Medal win came almost nine months after her retirement announcement at the age of 25 blindsided the tennis world.
“There are so many people behind the scenes that help me and allowed me to live out my dream and to discover what it felt like to work hard and really chase after something you love,” Barty said.
“I’m so grateful to everything that tennis has given me; it’s given me all of my dreams, plus more.”
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Ash Barty’s Grand Slam wins and 2022 in pictures: Perfect moment as world No.1 makes history at Australian Open, then announces shock retirement
