"Nobody knew": How Ash Barty's huge surprise was pulled off
<p dir="ltr">The planning behind Ash Barty’s huge surprise following her Australian Open win has been revealed, with master of ceremonies Todd Woodbridge sharing how he was sworn to secrecy.</p><p dir="ltr">The world No. 1 received the Daphne Akhurst Memorial Cup from dear friend and tennis legend Evonne Goolagong Cawley, who emerged from the Champions’ Walk during the celebration ceremony.</p><p dir="ltr">“We have a special guest to present the finalist’s trophy,” Woodbridge announced at the time.</p><p><span id="docs-internal-guid-c4a56fa0-7fff-aa0d-9630-c4d3054f0f80"></span></p><p dir="ltr">“Would you please welcome a 13-time grand slam champion, four-time winner here at the Australian Open. She is a champion of our game. Put your hands together for Evonne Goolagong Cawley!”</p><blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p dir="ltr" lang="en">🖤💛❤️<br /><br />The moment Evonne Goolagong Cawley crowned <a href="https://twitter.com/ashbarty?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@ashbarty</a> the <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/AusOpen?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#AusOpen</a> women's singles champion 🏆<a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/AO2022?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#AO2022</a> <a href="https://t.co/ASBtI8xHjg">pic.twitter.com/ASBtI8xHjg</a></p>— #AusOpen (@AustralianOpen) <a href="https://twitter.com/AustralianOpen/status/1487375136005058560?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 29, 2022</a></blockquote><p dir="ltr">The surreal moment was greeted by an eruption of applause from the crowd, while a beaming Barty bowed her head in disbelief. </p><p dir="ltr">“Obviously I was sworn to secrecy because I did the presentation and I had to announce that (Goolagong Cawley) was about to walk onto the court,” Woodbridge <a href="https://wwos.nine.com.au/tennis/australian-open-2022-ash-barty-evonne-goolagong-todd-woodbridge/1dd16936-560b-4e02-a129-4792fbfab7a9" target="_blank" rel="noopener">said</a> while appearing on 2GB’s Wide World of Sports radio.</p><p dir="ltr">“The card that had that line in my notecards that I held … wasn’t handed to me until I had just about walked up on the stage, even though I knew it was coming, in case someone saw my notes.</p><p dir="ltr">“Nobody knew. It was absolutely brilliant.</p><p dir="ltr">“I was staring down the camera from the MC position and I had the stand right behind it and as soon as I said her name everybody stood up.</p><p dir="ltr">“It was really quite an incredible moment.”</p><p dir="ltr">Barty previously paid tribute to Goolagong Cawley while playing at Wimbledon last year, wearing a white skirt with a scalloped hem in a nod to the outfit Goolagong wore when she won the singles grand slam at the All England Club in 1971.</p><p dir="ltr">The then-19-year-old would go on to win four Australian Open singles titles between 1974 and 1977.</p><p dir="ltr"><span id="docs-internal-guid-21acefe4-7fff-d6e4-a487-8ea530e18ea2"></span></p><p dir="ltr">Barty’s maiden Australian Open title win saw her defeat American Danielle Collins 6-3, 7-6, (7-2) to become a three-time singles major champion.</p><blockquote class="instagram-media" style="background: #FFF;border: 0;border-radius: 3px;margin: 1px;max-width: 540px;min-width: 326px;padding: 0;width: calc(100% - 2px)" data-instgrm-captioned="" data-instgrm-permalink="https://www.instagram.com/p/CZVBsLKBoy4/?utm_source=ig_embed&utm_campaign=loading" data-instgrm-version="14"><div style="padding: 16px"><div style="flex-direction: row;align-items: center"><div style="background-color: #f4f4f4;border-radius: 50%;flex-grow: 0;height: 40px;margin-right: 14px;width: 40px"> </div><div style="flex-direction: column;flex-grow: 1;justify-content: center"><div style="background-color: #f4f4f4;border-radius: 4px;flex-grow: 0;height: 14px;margin-bottom: 6px;width: 100px"> </div><div style="background-color: #f4f4f4;border-radius: 4px;flex-grow: 0;height: 14px;width: 60px"> </div></div></div><div style="padding: 19% 0"> </div><div style="height: 50px;margin: 0 auto 12px;width: 50px"> </div><div style="padding-top: 8px"><div style="color: #3897f0;font-family: Arial,sans-serif;font-size: 14px;font-style: normal;font-weight: 550;line-height: 18px">View this post on Instagram</div></div><div style="padding: 12.5% 0"> </div><div style="flex-direction: row;margin-bottom: 14px;align-items: center"><div><div style="background-color: #f4f4f4;border-radius: 50%;height: 12.5px;width: 12.5px"> </div><div style="background-color: #f4f4f4;height: 12.5px;width: 12.5px;flex-grow: 0;margin-right: 14px;margin-left: 2px"> </div><div style="background-color: #f4f4f4;border-radius: 50%;height: 12.5px;width: 12.5px"> </div></div><div style="margin-left: 8px"><div style="background-color: #f4f4f4;border-radius: 50%;flex-grow: 0;height: 20px;width: 20px"> </div><div style="width: 0;height: 0;border-top: 2px solid transparent;border-left: 6px solid #f4f4f4;border-bottom: 2px solid transparent"> </div></div><div style="margin-left: auto"><div style="width: 0px;border-top: 8px solid #F4F4F4;border-right: 8px solid transparent"> </div><div style="background-color: #f4f4f4;flex-grow: 0;height: 12px;width: 16px"> </div><div style="width: 0;height: 0;border-top: 8px solid #F4F4F4;border-left: 8px solid transparent"> </div></div></div><div style="flex-direction: column;flex-grow: 1;justify-content: center;margin-bottom: 24px"><div style="background-color: #f4f4f4;border-radius: 4px;flex-grow: 0;height: 14px;margin-bottom: 6px;width: 224px"> </div><div style="background-color: #f4f4f4;border-radius: 4px;flex-grow: 0;height: 14px;width: 144px"> </div></div><p style="color: #c9c8cd;font-family: Arial,sans-serif;font-size: 14px;line-height: 17px;margin-bottom: 0;margin-top: 8px;overflow: hidden;padding: 8px 0 7px;text-align: center"><a style="color: #c9c8cd;font-family: Arial,sans-serif;font-size: 14px;font-style: normal;font-weight: normal;line-height: 17px;text-decoration: none" href="https://www.instagram.com/p/CZVBsLKBoy4/?utm_source=ig_embed&utm_campaign=loading" target="_blank" rel="noopener">A post shared by Ash Barty (@ashbarty)</a></p></div></blockquote><p dir="ltr">Woodbridge had nothing but praise for her Melbourne Park campaign, noting that even her “wobble” was followed by some hard-hitting play.</p><p dir="ltr">“Goes through the tournament without losing a set, and then in the final has a bit of a wobble where her opponent came at her, lost her forehand for a little while and then at 5-1 down says, ‘OK, enough’s enough. I’m going to start taking this back on’,” Woodbridge said.</p><p dir="ltr">“And then whacks forehand winners for the next six games, gets back in and wins it.</p><p dir="ltr">“Just one of the best Opens I have been at because of the fact that we had that Aussie winner.”</p><p dir="ltr"><span id="docs-internal-guid-76ad1503-7fff-fa2a-7326-d609e4f7c005"></span></p><p dir="ltr">Image: Getty Images</p>
