Ash Barty has won the highest honour in Australian sport, taking out The Don Award at this year’s Sport Australia Hall of Fame Awards to cap off an extraordinary year for the 26-year-old.
The Don Award is named after Sir Donald Bradman AC, the inaugural inductee to the Sport Australia Hall of Fame, and is awarded to the athlete (or team) that has been most inspiring over the past 12 months.
It marks the second time Barty has been honoured with The Don Award, having first won it in 2019.
“This is such a special night to celebrate sport all around Australia and iconic athletes and I feel very privileged to play a small part in that. I am so honoured to win The Don Award, one of the most special acknowledgements in Australian sport,” Barty said upon accepting the award.
The recognition comes after a remarkable 2022 for Barty, who came into the beginning of the year as the world’s number 1 tennis player. She went on to win the Australian Open in January, becoming the first Australian to win the title since 1978.
Two months later, Barty announced her retirement from professional tennis, sill ranked number 1 in the world. Retiring at the absolute top of her game, she became just the second woman to retire while holding the number 1 ranking in tennis.
Upon winning The Don Award, Barty reflected on her year and the Australian Open, saying she didn’t feel pressured like she had in the past.
“This year was certainly my most enjoyable Australian Open, result aside, that had nothing to do with it. It felt free. I played without consequence, I played like a little kid,” Barty said.
“In my eyes, there was no pressure. It was just about me trying to redeem myself, in a way, and playing how I’d always wanted to play – go out there and play like the kid that fell in love with sport.”
She also noted the impact of people like Evonne Goolagong Cawley on her career.
“(Ahead of the presentation) I turned and saw Evonne, and that moment for me encapsulated how lucky I was as a person, how fortunate I was as an athlete to have so many incredible people interested in me and my career and following along the journey,” she said.
Barty shocked many in the sporting world when she announced her retirement at just 25 and at a time when she was dominating on the world stage. She retired having held the number 1 ranking for two years and with three grand slams under her belt, including Wimbledon, the French Open and the Australian Open.
When she announced her decision to end her professional tennis career, via a video on Instagram, she said she had given “absolutely everything I can to this beautiful sport of tennis and I’m really happy with that and for me, that is my success”.
“In my mind there was never going to be a perfect ending, but it was my perfect ending,” Barty said after winning The Don Award.
“It was never about finishing on a win or on a really high emotional feeling. It was just about collectively, I felt it was right.
“Now (that decision) has led to nine months of just an incredible life off the court. It’s been amazing.”
This year, Barty has also been recognised as NAIDOC Person of the Year and went on to publish her memoir, My Dream Time: A Memoir Of Tennis & Teamwork, which is about how she found her path to being the best person she could be – not just as an athlete.