“Champ”: Victoria Azarenka Congratulates Bestie Ashleigh Barty Following Her Grand Slam Win at Wimbledon Championships 2021

Ashleigh Barty created history by becoming the first Australian woman to win the singles trophy at the Wimbledon Championships since Evonne Goolagong in 1980. Barty defeated Karolina Pliskova 6-3, 6-7 (4), 6-3 in a thrilling final to lift her career’s second Grand Slam title.

Overwhelmed by emotion, the Australian knelt down after winning the final as she tried to hold back her tears. Witnessing her historic victory, Twitter was abuzz with former greats and fellow players congratulating Barty on the achievement.

Tennis stars applaud Ashleigh Barty

Two-time Australian Open champion, Victoria Azarenka, lauded her close friend’s historic win. The Belarusian took to the microblogging site and wrote “Champ”, with a heart emotion next to it.

Over the years, the duo has forged a formidable doubles team. They won their first title together at the 2019 Italian Open and ended up as the runner-up at the US Open in the same year.

Tennis Legend, Rod Laver, also tweeted to express his admiration for Barty’s fighting spirit and congratulated her entire team on the impeccable performance.

“So happy for you @ashbarty, your dream comes true, and what a fight. Congratulations on your Wimbledon victory, I hope you and your team celebrate well along with your many fans around the world and back in Australia,” tweeted Laver.?

The 11-time Grand Slam champion, Laver, hailed Barty’s win as an incredible way to ring in the 50th anniversary of former Australian player, Evonne Goolagong’s, first-ever title win at the All England Club in 1971.

“What a wonderful follow up to Evonne’s win on the 50th anniversary,” wrote Laver, in his follow-up tweet.

Interestingly, during the on-court interview, Barty talked about being deeply inspired by Goolagong. In fact, the outfit worn by Barty was a tribute to the dress Goolagong played in when she won the tournament for the first time.

Petra Kvitova, James Blake, Billie Jean King, pop-star Kylie Minogue, and many others also reacted on Twitter after Barty became the Ladies’ Singles champion at Wimbledon.