21-year-old Ash Barty was awarded the highest award for an Australian tennis player, taking home the Newcombe Medal on Monday.
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She was quick to pay tribute to her good friend, Aussie doubles star Casey Dellacqua. “She’s my best mate but I don’t think she quite understands how much of a massive impact she’s had on my on life,” Barty said.“Bringing me back into the sport to be honest, she started the ball rolling again to finish unfinished business in doubles.”
Barty climbed from 325 to 17 in the WTA Rankings this season, winning her first career title at Kuala Lumpur and reaching the final at Birmingham and Wuhan.
She also won three doubles title with Dellacqua, after returning to the sport to play her first full season on tour since 2013. Barty left the game for personal reasons in 2014 to pursue a career in cricket. She returned to the tour and started to rebuild her ranking in 2016.
Barty edged Daria Gavrilov, John Peers, Nick Kyrgios and Jordan Thompson ti win the honor.