But it could have been so different for the Australian. Just 45 minutes into her campaign, during her first round match against Carla Su\u00e1rez Navarro, Barty slipped.<\/p>\n
That was on day two of the tournament, when the centre court surface came under fire, as a number of players lost their footing.<\/p>\n
Serena Williams was forced to withdraw from her match in tears<\/a>, while Adrian Mannarino had to pull out ahead of what would have been a fifth set against Roger Federer<\/a>.<\/p>\n Leading commentator Sam Smith was covering that match, and noticed immediately that things were amiss with Barty.<\/p>\n "I watched her in her first match, when she opened centre court against Carla Su\u00e1rez Navarro, and I didn't think she looked 100 per cent," Smith told Wide World of Sports.<\/p>\n "She fell on her hip, because that was the day everyone was falling down, and I saw her look up at the player's box, slightly panicked, and I thought that she wasn't quite right.<\/p>\n "When I heard it last night about the extent of the injury I found it absolutely staggering."<\/p>\n Barty's team, head coach Craig Tyzzer, physiotherapist Mel Omizzolo and physical performance specialist Matt Hayes didn't tell the world No.1 of the odds she had to overcome on the way to lifting the Venus Rosewater Dish, becoming the first Australian in 41 years to do so.<\/p>\n Omizzolo was the first person Barty embraced after her win, with the 25-year-old suggesting it was "nothing short of a miracle" that she was able to play at the All England Club.<\/p>\n "I find that just unbelievable," Smith said. "That's a lot of pressure on the team to make that call. Wow. They got it right, but they must have been bricking themselves.<\/p>\n "Well played to the team, but it was an absolute tightrope. That's why Ash's team have been together for a few years now, it's a bit like Rafa (Nadal), he's said he's never going to sack anyone, so they can be totally honest and do the best for him without worrying about their job."<\/p>\n According to Smith, the approach Barty has taken with her support team was one of the key factors in her drought-breaking victory.<\/p>\n "Ash has created that environment where she takes responsibility for the results and everything that happens, she'd never turn around and blame anyone on her team, so they're free to make these calls," Smith explained.<\/p>\n "This was a monumental decision, but they can make it because she's created that environment of trust and support for her team."<\/p>\n The links between Barty and her childhood idol Evonne Goolagong Cawley have been well documented, with this year marking the 50th anniversary of her mentor's first win at the tournament.<\/p>\n Just the mention of Goolagong Cawley brought Barty to tears<\/a> during her post match interview.<\/p>\n "Ash is like a modern day Evonne Goolagong Cawley. You couldn't write the script any better. If Evonne was playing today, that's probably how she'd play the game," Smith said.<\/p>\n "There was a very famous tennis commentator called Dan Maskell who once said the perfect player has the single handled slice, and a really good double hander, and Ash has that."<\/p>\n Smith even went as far as to note that Barty's game might be the prototype for all players in the future.<\/p>\n "I feel that's where the game might go, even if you have the double hander, you've got to have a proper single handed slice. She's got everything, that's why they went crazy when she won the juniors here at 15, because there's nothing she doesn't have," Smith noted.<\/p>\n "She's a great athlete, she's a great analyst, she's a problem solver, and more important than all that, she has massive respect for the history of the game."<\/p>\n For a daily dose of the best of the breaking news and exclusive content from Wide World of Sports, subscribe to our newsletter by<\/strong><\/em> clicking here!<\/strong><\/em><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<\/p>\n
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