The new champion, the second Indigenous Australian to win Wimbledon, paid tribute to her mentor – and took the climb to her box that another compatriot did in 1987
Moments after Ashleigh Barty secured her first Wimbledon women’s singles title, and with her body still supercharged with adrenaline and relief, she skipped across Centre Court, over a barrier and into the crowd.
Seasoned Wimbledon watchers knew what was coming. Before long Barty had clambered over the NBC broadcast booth and into the players’ box where, to the great delight of the capacity crowd, she hugged her physio, coach and boyfriend who had all helped make her childhood dream a reality.
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Over the past few years Gordon Reid and Alfie Hewett have become so used to winning grand slam titles that they have almost got to the point where they are expected to triumph. But the joy of winning Wimbledon never gets old and the Scottish-English combination could barely keep the smiles off their faces after a 7-5, 6-2 win over Tom Egberink of the Netherlands and Joachim Gérard of Belgium.
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