Newly crowned Wimbledon Champion Ash Barty says it was touch-and-go if she would be even able to play in the tournament with her team keeping the extent of her injury a secret from her.
The world No.1 defeated Karolina Pliskova in three sets to become the first Australian woman to win the Grand Slam in more than 40 years. Barty’s triumph occurred less than a month after she was forced to retire from the French Open to a hip injury which also prevented her from playing any grasscourt tournament leading into Wimbledon. In her own words the Australian describes the turnaround a ‘miracle.’
Reluctant to share any details of her problem during the tournament, the 25-year-old has revealed that the injury was initially expected to be a ‘two month’ setback and the odds of her playing Wimbledon was less than she thought. Her team, which is headed by coach Craig Tyzzer, opted not to disclose the full details to their player during rehabilitation.
“They kept a lot of cards close to their chest and didn’t tell me a lot of the odds, didn’t tell me a lot of the information that they’d got from other specialists,” Barty revealed during her press conference.
“There weren’t too many radiologists in Australia who had seen my injury. In a sense, it was a two-month injury. Being able to to play here at Wimbledon was nothing short of a miracle.”
During the run to her second major title, Barty also scored wins over Grand Slam winners Barbora Krejčíková and Angelique Kerber. Out of her seven matches played at The All England Club, she dropped just two sets against Carla Suarez Navarro in the first round and Pliskova in the final.
“I think them (my team) not telling me that just proved how much we were against the odds,” she continued. “I think now to be playing pain-free through this event was incredible. It’s funny, sometimes the stars align, you can think positively, you can plan, and sometimes the stars do align, you can chase after your dreams.’
“Certainly now chatting to them it looked a lot less likely than I felt statistically. I think it’s been an incredible month.”
Winning titles is nothing new for Barty. Since 2017 she has won more titles than anybody else on the WTA Tour (12) and has the highest percentage of finals reached per tournament (28.1%). When it comes to winning percentage among players within that period only Serena Williams has a higher score than her.
Later this month the world No.1 is set to fly to Asia for the Tokyo Olympics Games before switching her focus to the US hardcourt swing. Despite what will be a busy schedule ahead, Barty is confident that her body will be able to cope following her recent hip issue.
“I had the most incredible team of people around me. I put full trust in them, in knowing that they do everything absolutely possible to give myself trust in my body. I think being able to prove that this fortnight has been incredible,” she stated.
“I certainly have no fears about my fitness. Of course, some things will happen. That’s normal. That’s natural. That’s life of being an athlete. But I know that I’ve got the very best team around me to prepare me in a way as best as we can.”
The Olympic tennis event will start on July 24th.
