For the third year running, Ash Barty has taken out Australian tennis' highest honour - this time after a banner season highlighted by her first major title and world No.1 ranking.
The 23-year-old was presented with Australian tennisā top honour by legend John Newcombe at the annual awards ceremony at Crown Palladium.
Barty won her first Newcombe Medal in 2017 and then shared the top honour with fellow nominee Alex de Minaur in 2018.
Her outstanding achievements in 2019 made her a clear winner, and after Sam Stosur, the only other player to achieve a Newcombe Medal hat-trick, with three wins.
āIām incredibly grateful and very humbled to be here tonight,ā Barty said after receiving the medal on stage from Newcombe.
āThis is not about individual athletes ā itās a night of celebration for everyone involved in tennis and everyone thatās a part of our tennis family. Congratulations to everyone else whoās in this room. It takes a village and we are a big tennis family. Iām very humbled to be here tonight.
āIām extremely fortunate to have such an amazing support network around me. Itās very special for me tonight to have Mum, Dad and my very first coach in Jim (Joyce) here. They gave me the unconditional love and support time and time again ā in all the bad times and all the good times, theyāre always there.
āThere were a few words they said to me: āI love to watch you playā. And when your Mum and Dad say that to you, when your coach says that to you, that makes your heart race a little bit.
āHonestly itās been incredible. Iām very grateful that theyāre here to share it with me as well.ā
Barty also gave heartfelt thanks to coach Craig Tyzzer, manager Nikki Craig and mindset coach Ben Crowe, among others, during her acceptance speech.
Following a breakout quarterfinal at the Australian Open in January 2019 ā the best result for a local woman in a decade ā Barty then progressed to victory at the prestigious Miami Open, cracking the worldās top 10 for the first time.
As her confidence grew, she was unstoppable on the court, winning her first major title at Roland Garros and rising to world No. 1 in June.
She capped off the year with victory at the WTA Finals and the year-end No.1 ranking, and also led Australia into its first Fed Cup final in 26 years.
Off court, the humble champion proved her impressive role model status by continuing her work as Indigenous Tennis Ambassador, partnering with the RSPCA and becoming the face of a campaign to encourage women and girls to stay in sport.
Barty won over a deserving field of nominees ā Dylan Alcott (Vic), Alex de Minaur (NSW), John Millman (Qld), and Ajla Tomljanovic (Qld).
Four-time Olympian Sam Stosur also claimed bragging rights, taking home the Spirit of Tennis Award for her outstanding leadership and professionalism, as well as her positive impact on the sport in Australia.
Ten years after becoming the first recipient of the Newcombe Medal, Stosur was presented with the award, recognising an individual who has personified the essence of leadership, passion, sportsmanship, goodwill and dedication to the sport while making a major contribution to the stature of tennis.
You can read more about Stosur's win and her stellar career HERE
