Ash Barty has made history with her outstanding Wimbledon win, taking home the title in the tournament’s women’s singles division.
WATCH: The moment Ash Barty won her historic Wimbledon title
The win came on the 50th anniversary of that of Evonne Goolagong Crawley’s first Wimbledon title, making Ash the second Indigenous woman to take the championship.
It’s been almost two decades since any Aussie has won the English tournament with Lleyton Hewitt winning in 2002 and 40 years since a woman won, that being Evonne’s second title in 1980.
So, what does it take to become a champion like Ngaragu woman, Ash? Talent and perseverance are a natural first answer, but a mindset coach can also help, too.
Ben Crowe fills that role for the 25-year-old and has spilled on Ash’s win and the importance of your mindset.
“Belief is actually one of her competitive advantages, but it’s funny when you achieve your dream suddenly you have this sense of it’s all unbelievable,” Ben told Nova’s Fitzy & Wippa of Ash’s win.
“So yeah, disbelief was actually one of the words. She felt quite numb. And I think it will take her a few days for things to settle down and sit back and realise what just happened.”
Ben often uses the phrase “if you’re in your head you’re dead” when coaching and revealed exactly how it helped Ash get to Wimbledon but can also be applied to everyday life.
“If you’re focusing on all of these things you can’t control about wanting to control it, that’s the definition of anxiety,” he explained.
“She had a lot of goals but she saw them as expectations of outcome which we can’t control. That’s the problem with athletes is that they confuse goals with expectations.
“We should all have goals or dreams but what’s really important to realise is that there’s no guarantees in life and if you make it an expectation that will create a distraction, if you like.”
