"She made me proud" - said Evonne Goolagong Cawley on Barty triumph

Ashleigh Barty won Wimbledon 50 years after Australian tennis legend Evonne Goolagong did it.

Barty played in a dress inspired by the victory of Goolagong so many years ago and the similarities between the two triumphs are uncanny. Both women are indigenous Australians and both now have won Wimbledon for Australia and 50 years apart no less. After the win, Barty said she hopes she made Evonne proud. Cawley responded:

“She certainly did. She made me proud from the first time I saw her. She must have been about 13 and she was playing at the Australian Open. Roger (Goolagong Cawley’s husband) and I saw one point where she showed all the skills. We both looked at each other and said, ‘She’s got it, she’s going to be our next champion’. Look at her now.”

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Cawley further added:

“She’s a great Australian, everybody loves her, every time I go out shopping everybody asks me about Ash – ‘How’s Ash going? What’s Ash doing? Isn’t she wonderful?’. Yes she is. Ash to me is like a little sister and part of my family.”