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New Wimbledon champ Ash Barty has honoured Evonne Goolagong Cawley in just the way she had dreamed - and she hopes her mentor will be proud of her.
Ash Barty hopes her Wimbledon triumph will create a legacy for young sporting dreamers in Australia in the same way that Evonne Goolagong Cawley's triumphs blazed a trail for her.
Fifty years since Goolagong Cawley first won the Venus Rosewater Dish at Wimbledon, Barty - another Indigenous Australian - felt all the stars had aligned and a circle had been connected as she achieved her own breakthrough triumph against Karolina Pliskova on the same Centre Court.
As she addressed the Centre Court crowd, wearing her own version of the scalloped dress that the teenage Goolagong Cawley had worn here back in 1971, Barty was moved to tears, saying: "I hope I made Evonne proud."
Expanding on her closeness with the seven-time grand slam winner who turns 70 later this month, she later explained: "It's incredible that it's happened to fall on the 50th anniversary of Evonne's first title here.
"Evonne is a very special person in my life. I think she has been iconic in paving a way for young Indigenous youth to believe in their dreams and to chase their dreams. She's done exactly that for me as well.
"I think being able to share that with her and share some pretty special victories now with her, to be able to create my own path, is really incredible, really exciting.
"Being able to have a relationship with her and talk with her through my experience, knowing she's only ever a phone call away, is really, really cool.
"She's just been an icon for years and years, not just on the tennis court. Her legacy off the court is incredible.
"I think if I could be half the person that Evonne is, I'd be a very, very happy person."
Barty has become the third Australian woman after Goolagong Cawley and Margaret Court to win Wimbledon and reckoned it was special to earn a place in the nation's sporting heritage.
"For Australians, there is such a rich history here at Wimbledon. I feel like Wimbledon is where tennis was born essentially. This is where it all started, where so many hopes and dreams were kind of born.
"Australians have such a rich history in sport, and being able to be a very small part of that is something I always dreamt of, to try and create a legacy, try and create a path for young girls and boys to believe in their dreams.
"Being able to kind of live through that and learn my lessons along the way has been some of the best parts of my journey.
"To be able to be successful here at Wimbledon, to achieve my biggest dream, has been absolutely incredible. The stars aligned for me over the past fortnight."
