"The Ashleigh Barty Effect": Former World No. 1 anticipates a boom in Brisbane 2032

In just a few years, Ashleigh Barty became an icon of Australian tennis and one of the country's greatest athletes in recent history. The former world No. 1 recently spoke about women’s sports in Australia.

Australian tennis has had great representatives since the pre-Open Era. Rod Laver, Margaret Court, and Roy Emerson amassed a total of 47 Grand Slam titles, but in recent decades, Lleyton Hewitt and Ash Barty have been the ones to raise the Australian flag, with both achieving world No. 1 rankings.

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For this reason, it was striking that Barty decided to retire from tennis at just 26 years old, just weeks after securing her third Grand Slam title at the Australian Open. Barty chose to focus on family life after dominating the tennis world and quickly became one of Australia's greatest athletes of the last few decades.

Her former coach, Craig Tyzzer, did not hesitate to say a few years ago that we would see the “Barty Effect” in her country. This referred to the influence the former No. 1 would have on Australian sport and how she would inspire younger athletes.

Barty has taken on roles as an ambassador for tennis and Australian sports. With the 2032 Brisbane Olympics in mind, Barty spoke about the projections for younger athletes in her country. “I think Brisbane is going to be a real sweet spot.”

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“Through Paris, we saw not older athletes by any means, but you saw more established athletes winning. I think in LA (2028), you are probably going to see a bit more of a mix,” she said. “But I really do believe that come Brisbane, it’s going to be a bit of a boom for the younger generation to be dominant, both in men and women, but particularly on the women’s side.”

“I feel like we’re going to have a few young guns come through in 2032, and that’s exciting. It’s scary to think that you’ve got eight, nine, ten, or 11-year-old girls who are going to be standing up there on the podium in Brisbane.”

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