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Wimbledon champion Ash Barty was once a cricketer, played in WBBL for Brisbane Heat
Barty was also a professional cricketer once. The Aussie ace took a break from her tennis career in 2014 and a year later signed to play in the Women's Big Bash League, Australia's elite T20 competition.
Ashleigh Barty on Saturday became the first Australian woman to win the women's singles title at Wimbledon since Evonne Goolagong Cawley won the second of her two titles in 1980. She is only the third Australian woman to win at the coveted title at the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club, after Goolagong Cawley and Margaret Court in the Open era.
Barty won the final against Czech Republic's Karolina Pliskova 6-3, 6-7, 6-3 to claim her second career grand slam singles title. She had triumphed at the French Open in 2019.
Not many though would know that Barty was also a professional cricketer once. The Aussie ace took a break from her tennis career in 2014 and a year later signed to play in the Women's Big Bash League, Australia's elite T20 competition. She turned out for Brisbane Heat, a well known franchise that has teams in both the women's and men's BBL.
Ash Barty vs Karolina Pliskova Wimbledon Final - Highlights
Barty, who had no formal training in the sport, played a total of 10 matches and had a highest score of 39 for the Heats. She soon realised that her calling was not cricket, but tennis and switched back to the sport.
"It truly was an amazing period of my life," Barty had said of her cricket career in a 2019 interview.
"I met an amazing group of people who couldn't care less whether I could hit a tennis ball or not.
"They accepted me, and they got to know Ash Barty. They got to know me. I still have those relationships to this very day. I got an amazing amount of messages over the last couple of days from those cricket girls who were some of my best friends.
"The way they are accepting of someone new coming into their locker room, into their dressing room and into their sport was amazing. They are truly an incredible group of girls that I know I'll have a relationship with for the rest of my life and a friendship with for the rest of my life," she added.
It was a great decision for the youngster who has since managed to turn her singles career around and is now the top ranked female tennis player in the world. Cricket's loss has definitely been tennis' gain.
