Once A Cricketer, Ashleigh Barty Sensationally Wins French Open
Updated - 09 Jun 2019, 05:32 PM
Cricketers representing their country in other sport is nothing new. From Ian Botham playing football for Yeovil Town and Scunthorpe United, Jonty Rhodes playing hockey for South Africa to Yuzvendra Chahal playing chess for India, there are several instances of big names from the game representing their nation or any other big team in any other sport. However, no one has achieved as much recognition as Australia’s Ashleigh Barty and the reasons are obvious.
Barty has sensationally won tennis grand slam French Open. She became Australia’s fourth female winner at Roland Garros on Saturday as she beat Czech teen Marketa Vondrousova in straight sets. Barty had won the junior Wimbledon in 2011 but walked away from the sport due to extreme expectations. She then turned her attention to cricket and played for Brisbane Heat in Women’s Big Bash League.
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Barty has now credited her stint as a player with Brisbane for rescuing her tennis career. She said the time spent with cricketers like as Australia internationals Beth Mooney and Jess Jonassen had a huge effect on her.
“It truly was an amazing period of my life,” Ashleigh Barty said.
“I met an amazing group of people who couldn’t care less whether I could hit a tennis ball or not. They accepted me and they got to know Ash Barty. They got to know me. I still have those relationships to this very day.
“I got an amazing amount of messages over the last couple of days from those cricket girls who were some of my best friends. The way they are accepting of someone new coming into their locker room, into their dressing room and into their sport was amazing,” she added.
Well, Barty could not have asked for a better comeback in tennis. The future is looking only brighter for her and she would be keen to use her latest triumph as a springboard to launch her career.
