After another successful year on tour – highlighted by the realisation of a childhood dream in claiming her first Wimbledon trophy – 25-year-old Barty is the first four-time ‘Newk’ winner.
While the medal wasn’t awarded in 2020 due to the pandemic,Barty has cut a swathe through women’s tennis since launching her comeback to the game in 2016 following a hiatus in which she played cricket in the WBBL.
Among her achievements,the Queenslander locked down the year-end world No.1 for a third straight year,won the WTA player of the year award and,most recently,was named alongside Novak Djokovic as the two ITF world champions.
Sam Stosur won the first three Newcombe Medals from 2010 onwards,but Barty has been the standout of Australian tennis in the past four years. Barty also shared the Newcombe Medal with Alex de Minaur in 2018.
Alcott’s second medal comes after his victory in 2016,the year he won wheelchair quad singles and doubles gold medals at the Rio Paralympics. Steadily,wheelchair tennis has risen in prominence in recent years,with much thanks to Alcott.
It was fitting that Barty and Alcott could share the honour as they have forged a strong friendship on tour.
Alcott,31 and about to embark on a final Australian Open,described the Newk as the “cherry on top” of a season in which he dug deep and saw off challenges from the sport’s young guns to claim all four majors and a second Paralympics singles gold in Tokyo.