Today, Ashleigh ‘Ash’ Barty is probably the biggest female celebrity in Australian sports.
WATCH: The moment Ash Barty won Wimbledon
Former World Number One in the Women’s Tennis and Tennis Australia’s National Indigenous Ambassador, she spent her career at the top of her game, gaining legions of fans to match.
But her biggest fan is without a doubt her long-term partner (and now husband), Garry Kissick.
What is Ash’s life with Garry like off the courts? Get to know the true story behind their sweet romance.
Who Is Ash Barty?
Ash Barty was born in Ipswich, Queensland on April 24, 1996. She’s a proud Ngaragu woman and she won the Female Sportsperson of the Year at the National Dreamtime Awards in 2017, 2018 and 2019.
Early Tennis Career
She first started playing tennis at the tender age of four under the tutelage of junior coach Jim Joyce. Jim said in an interview with The Sydney Morning Herald that he usually starts teaching kids at seven or eight years old.
“But the first ball I threw to her, bang! She hit it right back,” Jim said. From then on, Ash trained constantly.
“I used to hit the ball against that wall every day after school, for hours on end,” she told the Herald. By the age of nine, she was practising against much older boys; by 12 years old, she was training against adults.
Ash started playing junior ITF events in 2009 when she was 13, and made it all the way to No. 2 in the junior world. In 2011, she became the second Australian girl to take home the Wimbledon girls’ singles title.
Professional Tennis
Ash’s professional career began in April 2010 when she was 14, and her career began a steady rise that has hardly backed down.
She broke into the top 200 of the WTA singles when she was 16, and played in the Australian Open, ITF Women’s Circuit, and the Brisbane International.
Cricket Career
Between 2014 and 2016, Ash took a break from tennis and tried playing cricket. She had a remarkable showing, playing for the Western Suburbs District Cricket Club, and even ending up the Club’s top scorer with 37 points during their local league finals. She also played for a season with the Brisbane Heat.
Triumphant Return
In 2016, Ash returned to tennis – at the time, she was 623rd in the world. But in just a few short years she would be named the World No. 1.
In 2018, Ash took home the WTA Elite Trophy, moving up to world No. 15, and won the Miami Open with CoCo Vandeweghe. Later that year, she and Vandeweghe defeated Australia Open champs Tímea Babos and Kristina Mladenovic, winning the 2018 US Open Women’s Doubles title and giving Ash her first-ever Grand Slam win.
2019 represented Ash’s banner year. On June 10, she became the first Aussie woman since Margaret Court (1973) to land a French Open. And on June 23, playing at England’s Birmingham Classic, she defeated Julia Görges to become the first Australian woman to make it to the world No. 1 title since Evonne Goolagong in 1976.
In 2021 she won the trophy at Wimbledon, cementing her position once again as the World No. 1 – a title she defended at the 2021 Australian Open.
In 2022, Ash made history and became the first Australian to win an Australian Open women’s singles title in 44 years.
But just two months later, Ash announced her retirement from the sport at the tender age of just 25.
Who Is Ash Barty’s Partner?
While she was playing golf at Queensland’s Brooklands Golf Club, Ash met PGA Trainee golfer Garry Kissick. The two fell in love and began dating without any fanfare or announcements.
Garry has worked at Brooklands since he was 17 as a member of the club’s maintenance team. He’s worked in operations, as a greenkeeper, and as an irrigation technician. In 2018, he was accepted into the PGA Trainee Program.
When did Ash Barty and Garry Kissick confirm their romance?
Their relationship was made public in January 2017, when Ash brought Garry to the John Newcombe Awards and the couple made their red carpet debut. It was here that Ash would win her first of two consecutive Newcombe Medals.
Months later, the two watched a Brisbane Roar game on October 13, 2017. With both the tennis player and her beau posting from the event on their Instagram accounts, this was the first time they ever shared snaps together on social media.
Are Ash Barty and Garry Kissick Married?
Ash and Garry married in secret sometime in 2022, announcing the news in a single post to Instagram on July 30, 2022.
“Husband & Wife,” she captioned the beaming wedding day photo.
It is understood that the ceremony took place earlier that month, with Ash choosing to enjoy a few weeks of wedded bliss before sharing the news with the world.
The pair excitedly announced their engagement in November 2021.
Posting a beautiful photo that showed off her engagement ring, Ash called Garry her “future husband” in the post, which was met with well wishes from her adoring fans.
“Garry and I have been together for a long time now and I had designed the ring with him,” she told the Courier Mail of the proposal.
“We are obviously excited now for the next chapter. We were at home on the couch with the puppies. It was very much just us. It was perfect for us. Everyone has their unique way of doing it.”
Then, in January 2023, the lovebirds revealed that they were expecting their first child together!
“2023 set to be the best year yet. So excited for our new adventure,” Ash captioned a sweet snap of her dog Origi and a pair of baby shoes.
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