Australia's big Wimbledon hope takes off-court controversy in her stride
Australia's Ashleigh Barty celebrates winning her third round match Britain's Harriet Dart in Wimbledon, London, the UK. July 6 2019. Picture: REUTERS/TONY O'BRIEN
First there was the decision by broadcaster Channel Seven to stick with the first-round match between Nick Kyrgios and Jordan Thompson rather than show Barty’s championship opener against China’s Zheng Saisai. Blasted by Australia’s twitterati as “sexist” the decision was defended by the network on the grounds of the public interest in a thrilling all-Australian five-setter and Barty herself simply refused to bite.
The third issue was a slow burner triggered by seven-times Wimbledon champion Serena Williams, who appeared surprised to be informed Barty was top of the world rankings in her pre-tournament news conference.That was enough to prompt an outburst from retired former world No53 Sam Groth, who in a newspaper column dubbed the American’s reaction an “absolute disgrace”.
“She’s such a sweet person. I think she’s just the one person in the locker room that everyone roots for, including me.”
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