Did you know? Newly crowned Women's French Open champion Ashleigh Barty is also a professional cricketer; here's what the new sensation has to say about the sport

Ashleigh Barty, who just won her first Grand Slam tennis title in French Open, said she witnessed an amazing period of her life when she was a cricketer.

Barty took a break from her tennis career in 2014 and a year later she played in the Women's Big Bash League (WBBL) for Brisbane Heat. However, she made her return to the world of tennis in 2016. But it appears that she still could not get her cricketing days out of her mind as she termed it as "amazing period of my life".

"It truly was an amazing period of my life. I met an amazing group of people who couldn't care less whether I could hit a tennis ball or not," ESPN Cricinfo quoted Barty as saying.
Barty stated that she still has those relationships to this very day and she received many messages from the girls during the tournament.

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"They accepted me, and they got to know Ash Barty. They got to know me. I still have those relationships to this very day. I got an amazing amount of messages over the last couple of days from those cricket girls who were some of my best friends," she said.

The 23-year old further added that she is going to have a relationship with her then cricket team-mates for the rest of her life.

"They are truly an incredible group of girls that I know I'll have a relationship with for the rest of my life and friendship with for the rest of my life," Barty said.

Barty's coach Craig Tyzzer gave credit to her cricketing days for her maiden title as he termed her decision of stepping away from the sport as the "best thing she ever did".

"It was the best thing she ever did: stepping away from the sport. She wanted to reassess her life. For someone to be able to step back in and play at the level she has after three years out is pretty amazing," he said.

Barty overpowered Marketa Vondrousova, on Saturday, during the Women's French Open final to secure a dominating 6-1,6-3 victory.

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