With cameos from Evonne Goolagong Cawley and Cathy Freeman, Barty gave us a myth-making night full of celebration and blak joy
It was the summer of Omicron, and after two years of on-and-off lockdowns no one was happy about it. To cap it off, blackfellas across the country were recovering from another Invasion Day, with protests held around the country against blak deaths in custody.
But at night, we had something to look forward to. Ash Barty was storming through the Australian Open and bringing a nation along with her. No one from this country had won the Open in more than four decades but that looked set to change.