Barty’s idol Goolagong saw her win coming years ago

Brisbane, July 11

Evonne Goolagong Cawley stayed up well past her usual bedtime on Saturday night. Not that she minded being tired when she woke up all-too-early on Sunday morning: her friend and protege Ash Barty was the new Wimbledon champion.

Barty completed a 6-3 6-7 (4) 6-3 win over Karolina Pliskova in the women’s singles final at the All England Club on Saturday.

It was just past 1 am Sunday in Australia’s east coast when the match ended and Goolagong Cawley and her husband, Roger Cawley, may have woken up the neighbours with their noisy reaction at their home on the Sunshine Coast, north of Brisbane. There wasn’t much time to sleep before the phone calls started.

“It was very emotional for me to be watching Ash,” Goolagong Cawley said today. “I’m so proud of her and the way she handles herself on and off the court. She’s like a little sister to me, so it seems like a family win today.” Goolagong won Wimbledon twice — for the first time 50 years ago in 1971 — and again in 1980. Until Barty’s victory, that had been the last time an Australian woman won a singles title at Wimbledon.

Barty’s wins and her career have been intertwined with Goolagong Cawley because of their indigenious heritage — Goolagong Cawley is a Wiradjuri woman and Barty a Ngaragu woman. Their aboriginal ancestors are from the same state — New South Wales, although the Wiradjuri people are mostly in the central areas. — AP