Ashleigh Barty Wins Birmingham Title and Reaches World No. 1
(June 23, 2019) Australia’s Ashleigh Barty beat Julia Goerges of Germany 6-3, 7-5 to win the Nature Valley Classic at the Edgbaston Priory Club on Sunday in Birmingham. Her win moves her ranking up to No. 1 for the first time.
Barty did not drop a set en route to the title – she is the first player to win the Birmingham title without dropping a set since Ana Ivanovic in 2014.
This is her first Birmingham title, her sixth career WTA Tour trophy and third crown this year including the Miami Open and Roland Garros.
The twenty-three-year-old Barty will be the first Australian to reach No.1 since Evonne Goolagong back in 1976. The Roland Garros champion is now on a 12-match winning streak heading into another pre-Wimbledon warm-up at the Nature Valley Open in Nottingham.
“It’s a dream come true to be the World No.1,” said Barty. “My team and I have put in so much work and I’m very proud of what we have achieved. It’s an honor to be in this position, which has been held by the legends of our sport who I respect and admire greatly.”
“It’s just hard to put into words what we have been able to achieve over the last few years and to be where we are now is just incredible. To be mentioned in the same sentence as Evonne is incredible. She is an amazing person, and what she has done in her career was incredible and what she continues to do off the court for us as a sport is amazing.”
“It is always a goal to try and be the best. It’s ultimately why we train, why we compete and play, but for it to happen in this way has been amazing,” Barty continued. “It’s a testament to all of my team who have put so much time and invested so much passion and energy into my career and try and make me the best that I can be.”
“Jules is an incredible competitor and she is never going to hand a match over lightly and she is always going to come up with her best stuff when her back is against the wall,” said Barty of not only her final opponent but her doubles partner this week. “So it was important for me to try and stay in touch and getting that break back early in the (second) set was really important to not kind of give her a sniff of winning a set on her serve.”
“As soon as we shake hands, no matter who has won or lost the match, the relationship doesn’t change and it’s a testament to Jules as a character, she is an incredible person, someone I highly respect and love to spend time with. And yeah, I couldn’t think of a better person to be able to share the court with today.”
Su-Wei Hsieh and Barbora Strycova won the doubles title with a 6-4, 6-7(4), 10-8 win over Anna-Lena Groenefeld and Demi Schuurs in a final that was moved indoors after rain fell mid-way through the match.
