Serena Williams may be one of the fiercest competitors in the history of sports, but that doesn’t mean she won’t help out a fellow player.
After losing in the opening round of the 2014 US Open, 18-year-old Ashleigh Barty announced that she was taking “a break from professional tennis” before pursuing a career in cricket.
“It was too much too quickly for me as I’ve been travelling from quite a young age,” she said of her decision at the time. “I wanted to experience life as a normal teenaged girl and have some normal experiences.”
But, after just one successful season, Barty made her return to tennis in early 2016. Fast forward to current day, and on Saturday, Ashleigh got her first ever Australian Open title, beating American Danielle Collins in straight sets.
Following her big win, the Australian‘s former coach Jim Joyce revealed that it was a text from Serena Williams in 2015 that inspired Barty to give tennis one more try.
“Ash was in a restaurant I think and Serena sent her a message saying, ‘You are too good a player to retire. You have to come back,’” Joyce said while speaking with The Courier Mail, per 7News.
Of course, Williams was right, and Barty went on to make her proud. After winning her first Grand Slam title at the French Open in 2019, she went on to win Wimbledon in 2021 and the Australian Open last month.
Her victory ended a 44-year drought for Australia as the 25-year-old became the first Australian to win a singles title since 1978.
“This is a dream come true for me. I am so proud of being Aussie,” she said following her historic victory. “As an Aussie, the most important part of this tournament has been being able to share this experience with the fans. This crowd is one of the most fun I‘ve played in front of.”
She continued, “To be able to have this feeling and experience this a few times over, I just understand how fortunate I am to be able to experience that, because not many people get to do that.”
