Ash Barty Takes Home Newcombe Medal

21-year-old Ash Barty was awarded the highest award for an Australian tennis player, taking home the Newcombe Medal on Monday.More: Federer and Nadal End Season in Top 2 for Record Seventh Time She was quick to pay tribute to her good friend, Aussie doubles star Casey Dellacqua. “She’s my best mate but I don’t think she quite understands how much of a massive impact she’s had on my on life,” Barty said.“Bringing me back into the sport to be honest, she started the ball rolling again to finish unfinished business in doubles.”Barty climbed from 325 to 17 in the WTA Rankings this season, winning her first career title at Kuala Lumpur and reaching the final at Birmingham and Wuhan.She also won three doubles title with Dellacqua, after returning to the sport to play her first full season on tour since 2013. Barty left the game for personal reasons in 2014 to pursue a career in cricket. She returned to the tour and started to rebuild her ranking in 2016.

Congratulations @ashbar96 on an outstanding year, culminating in Australia's highest tennis honour, the Newcombe Medal. #Newks17. pic.twitter.com/CBkU00rYoQ

— #AusOpen (@AustralianOpen) November 27, 2017

"She helped me through my darkest days"@ashbar96 pays tribute to @caseydellacqua after winning the prestigious Newcombe Medal–> https://t.co/SCBNhl4TuF pic.twitter.com/RfXtni67Jv

— WTA (@WTA) November 27, 2017

Congratulations to our 2017 Newcombe Medal finalists 🙌 See the full list of nominees at https://t.co/oRQkO72pcP. #Newks17 pic.twitter.com/TOjcYgYiaB

— TennisAustralia (@TennisAustralia) November 15, 2017