Ashleigh Barty - Life On The Job

Ashleigh Barty (24 April 1996 - ) SPORTSPERSON

Introduction:

Ash is an Australian professional tennis player and former cricketer. She is ranked No. 1 in the world in singles by the Women's Tennis Association (WTA) and is the second Australian to hold this top ranking after Evonne Goolagong Cawley.

She is also a top ten player in doubles, having achieved a career-high ranking of No. 5 in the world. Barty has won six singles titles and ten doubles titles on the WTA Tour, including one Grand Slam singles title at the 2019 French Open and one Grand Slam doubles title at the 2018 US Open with partner CoCo Vandeweghe.

In July 2021, Ash Barty won the Women's Singles Title at Wimbledon. "The 25-year old becomes just the second Indigenous women to win Wimbledon and breaks a long drought for Australia at what is widely regarded as the most prestigious tennis tournament in the world.

To put it in context, Australia hasn’t won a singles title at the All England Club since 2002, when Lleyton Hewitt became the men’s champion. The last time an Australian woman took out the title was over 40 years ago, when Goolagong Cawley won her second title in 1980 (this time also becoming the first mother to win Wimbledon in 66 years)." (Source: The Conversation)

2022

Ash announced her retirement from Tennis - 23 March 2022.

Ash won the Australian Open Women's Singles Final - 29 January 2022

Australian Open Winner 2022

Barty captivated the nation with her 6-3, 7-6 triumph over American Danielle Collins, which ended a 44-year drought for Australian women in the event.

By winning her third grand slam title, on a third different surface, the 25-year-old cemented he status as the world’s best female player.
(Source: Weekend Australian)

Ashleigh Barty v Danielle Collins Highlights (Final) | Australian Open 2022
https://youtu.be/6BAx0jRXyiQ

Winner of Wimbledon 2021

Wimbledon

Receiving the trophy from the Duchess of Cambridge

Singles Board

Barty poses with the Venus Rosewater Dish trophy and the Wimbledon Ladies' Single Board now etched with her name
(Source: The Australian)

Early Life

Born in Ipswich in Queensland, Barty began playing tennis at the age of four in nearby Brisbane. She had a promising junior career, reaching a career-high ranking of No. 2 in the world after winning the girls' singles title at Wimbledon in 2011.

Young Champion
2002 West Brisbane Tennis Centre
(Source: Adelaide Now)

As a teenager, Barty had early success in doubles on the WTA Tour in 2013, finishing runner-up at three Grand Slam doubles events with veteran Casey Dellacqua, including at the Australian Open while still only 16 years old. Late in the 2014 season, Barty decided to take an indefinite break from tennis. She ended up playing cricket during this hiatus, signing with the Brisbane Heat for the inaugural Women's Big Bash League despite having no formal training in the sport.

Ash playing cricket
(Source: BigBash)

Barty returned to tennis in early 2016 shortly before turning 20 years old. Although she won her first tournament back on the ITF circuit, her year was ultimately marred by an arm injury. In 2017, Barty had a breakout year in singles, winning her first WTA title at the Malaysian Open and rising to No. 17 in the world despite having never been ranked inside the top 100 before her time off. She also had another prolific year in doubles with Dellacqua, culminating in her first appearance at the WTA Finals. She then won her first Premier Mandatory and Grand Slam tournament titles in doubles in 2018 before accomplishing the same feat in singles in 2019.

French Open Trophy
Ash Barty after winning the French Open became #1 Women's Rank
(Source: Sporting News)

Barty is an all-court player who employs a wide variety of shots into her style of play. Despite her short stature, she is an excellent server, regularly ranking among the WTA Tour's leaders in aces and percentage of service points won. Barty is of Indigenous heritage and serves as the National Indigenous Tennis Ambassador for Tennis Australia. (Source: Wikipedia)

Education:

Ash was born to Josie and Robert Ash Barty. Her dad works in the legislature and is a Ngarigo Indigenous Australian. Her mother works as a radiographer and is the daughter of English immigrants.

Ash with her parents Robert and Josie Barty at Newcombe Medal Presentation November 2017
(Source: Courier Mail)

Ash Barty grew up in Springfield, a suburb of Ipswich in Queensland and went to Woodcrest State College all through her upbringing.

Experiences, Opportunities and Training:

She has two older sisters Sara and Ali. Other than tennis, Ash Barty likewise played netball as a youngster, yet chose to concentrate on tennis since she “thought [netball] was a young ladies’ game” and in light of the fact that her sisters were superior to anything her at that sport. She did not play cricket while growing up.

Ash Barty began working with her long-term junior mentor Jim Joyce at the West Brisbane Tennis Center at the time of four. Joyce commented that he didn’t commonly prepare youngsters as youthful as Ash Barty, yet made a special case as a result of her magnificent deftness and abnormal state of core interest. He reviewed a minute from their first exercise, saying, “The primary ball I tossed to her, blast! She hit it right back.” As a kid, Ash Barty additionally rehearsed at home, recalling that, “I used to hit the ball against [the divider outside to our living room] consistently after school, for quite a long time.” By the time she was nine, she was rehearsing against young men who were six years more established. At 12 years old, she was playing against male grown-ups.

August 23 2021 - News

Cincinnati Masters

The Aussie superstar was flawless as she demolished her Swiss rival 6-3 6-1 to continue an incredible hot streak in 2021 and become the first Australian to win this tournament since her idol Evonne Goolagong Cawley did so 48 years ago in 1973.

Key points:

Ash Barty did not drop a set as she won her fifth tournament this year
Barty is the first Australian woman to win a Cincinnati singles title in 48 years
Barty has won 12 matches in a row in the lead up into next week's US Open

Links

WTA Tennis - Ash Barty	Australian Tennis
Ash Barty - Twitter	NITV 24 June 2019
Tennis Explorer - Ashleigh Barty	The Conversation 11 July 2021

YouTube: Ashleigh Barty | My Story

https://youtu.be/nw7GUZtFPZY

YouTube: Ash Barty claims world No 1 ranking after victory at Birmingham

https://youtu.be/EeoND2cowT4

The Science of Grunting in Tennis: A Community of Inquiry

Secondary

Australian Curriculum General Capability: Literacy

Australian Curriculum General Capability: Ethical Understanding

Philosophy

Cooperative Learning Activity

Teacher - to explore how to conduct a Community of Inquiry - go here.

1. In pairs, read the following article from The Conversation 18 January 2018 Reading

2. Using the Question Quadrant below, write up two questions for each Quadrant as a pair:

Question Quadrant

3. Using the material in the article and based on the science, conduct a Community of Inquiry.

4. If the following question has not arisen during the discussion, use it in the class:

Is grunting cheating? Is it fair?

Tennis and Statistics: A comprehension and analysis exercise!

Secondary

Australian Curriculum General Capability: Numeracy

Australian Curriculum General Capability: Critical and creative thinking

Australian Curriculum: Cross Curriculum Priorities: Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander histories and cultures

1. Read the following article from The Conversation 26 June 2019 Create a table of the statistics listed here. Reading

2. Comprehension

Go to Tennis Mash - Player DNA. Does this further article explain the statistics to you?

According to Tennis Mash's statistics - Ash Barty scored the following:

Player	Serve	Return	Forehand	Backhand	Technical DNA
Ash Barty	89.0	30.2	86.3	90.9	88.6

(Source: Tennis Mash, p7)

Add to these results [above table] to the statistics stated in The Conversation.

Explain all these results to your partner.

3. After re-reading the Conversation article, explain the content to a partner! Let your partner explain what they know.

4. How will Ash Barty or her coach use this information to help in her training? What areas did Ash need building up?

Extra Option

5. Read about the Statistician and author of this article, Dr Stephanie Kovalchik, under Statistician

Dr Stephanie wrote another article about Ash that you might want to read about....

3 February 2020 - The No.1 effect: why Ash Barty's success could lead to a boom in women's tennis in Australia

Ash Barty