The 23-year-old from Queensland beat six other finalists to receive the honour for her 'inspiring' sporting achievements and grace under fire.
Ash Barty has been named Young Australian of the Year during a glittering ceremony in Canberra, while the tennis superstar is in Melbourne fighting to win the Australian Open. The 23-year-old from Ipswich, Queensland, who was informed she had beaten seven other finalists to the title shortly before the official announcement on Saturday night, received the honour for her "inspiring" sporting achievements and grace under fire.
"Everyone has a unique journey to achieve their goals," Barty said in a prerecorded message. "I've taken my own path, and I encourage you to take your own path and do things your own way. Follow your dreams, work hard, and remember to enjoy yourself along the way."Fellow tennis great Pat Rafter, who was the 2002 Australian of the Year, delivered the news to Barty in Melbourne on Saturday evening, prompting her to declare: "This is bizarre. It really is. "For me, my family, my team - we're just trying to do the best that we can every single day," she said. "I don't think I'm deserving of it but, yeah, I'm just trying to be me ... This is incredibly humbling, and I know that it's going to be something that sits very, very high on my mantelpiece at home.""All of my values that I've lived by and try to live by every single day, regardless of whether it's in sport, all come from Mum and Dad," she said. "It's about being humble and respectful, and giving it a crack - trying to be the best you can be, and that's all you can ask of yourself."strengthened after top seeds Karolina Pliskova and Belinda Bencic were knocked out on Saturday. Her women's doubles assault at the Open ended on Saturday when she and Germany's Julia Gorges lost to France's Kristina Mladenovic and Hungary’s Timea Babos. Barty did not speak to the media after the match. The former cricketer and teen tennis champion is ranked the world’s number one singles tennis player by the Women’s Tennis Association – following in the footsteps of her role model Evonne Goolagong Cawley - and was a favourite for Young Australian of the Year. National Australia Day Council chair Danielle Roche said Barty was "a champion athlete and an extraordinary young woman doing our nation proud" and inspiring her "legions of fans".She credited Barty for her "dynamic tennis game, formidable serve and down-to-earth attitude", including her "calm, good-humoured acceptance" of just missing out on reaching the 2019 Wimbledon quarter-finals.Barty, an Aboriginal woman, descended from the Ngaragu people of southern NSW and north-eastern Victoria, serves as the National Indigenous Tennis Ambassador for Tennis Australia. As an adult, she has won six singles titles on the WTA Tour, including one Grand Slam at the 2019 French Open. Barty also sits in the top 20 of doubles players and was a doubles runner-up for the Australian Open at the age of just 16.The other finalists for Young Australian of the Year were Indigenous mentor and fundraiser Corey Tutt , youth worker and volunteer Taya Davies , youth mental health ambassador Mitchell Ford rare diseases researcher Yarlalu Thomas , runner, cyclist and fundraiser Zibeon Fielding , social justice activist Will Smith and sustainability advocate Madeline Diamond .
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