Ashleigh Barty bowed out of Wimbledon last year knowing something needed to change.
Luckily long-time coach Craig Tyzzer knew exactly who to call.
Since then Ben Crowe – a performance coach recommended by Richmond AFL captain Trent Cotchin – has been a central part of their tight-knit team.
The Australian talent has reached the last 16 of the next three majors and is firming as a genuine French Open contender ahead of Monday’s centre-court fourth-round opener against Sofia Kenin.
The third-round departures of Serena Williams and top seed Naomi Osaka mean defending champion Simon Halep, who beat Barty in two tight sets in Madrid last month, is the only higher-ranked opponent between the 23-year-old and a maiden grand slam final.
Poised to move inside the world’s top five, Barty has played like one of the sport’s elite in Paris and Tyzzer can explain why.
“I’d been in discussions with Ben for a while … we’d had a few talks but I felt Ash wasn’t sort of ready for it yet,” he said.
“But that (Wimbledon third-round loss) was the tipping point for her.
“It’s the correlation of her emotional stuff and her tennis stuff, letting her go out and not feel pressure, worry or feel anything.
“Just to go out and enjoy it; it’s made a big difference.”
Barty was so disillusioned by the tour she quit and played cricket as a teenager, before returning to tennis with immediate success.
But even then Tyzzer said she struggled to fully believe in herself, until things really started to click in a 2019 season that includes a stellar run to the title in Miami and an unbeaten Fed Cup campaign.
“Before, where I’ve put plans in place, I’ve discussed things and Ash hasn’t been able to execute,” Tyzzer explained.
“That’s largely due to restricting herself a bit, pressuring herself and not trusting what she has.
“He (Crowe) keeps it really simple; it’s more about trusting yourself and enabling what you have to work.”
Barty has realised her classical style can work on the slower clay surface, with her trademark slice backhand able to disrupt the tour’s big hitters.
Two wins this year against world No.35 Kenin mean the Barty camp is confident, but typically measured in pursuit of Australia’s first French Open singles title since Margaret Court in 1973.
“A lot of that external stuff doesn’t bother her now,” Tyzzer said.
“She hears it and that’s fine, but she deals with it.”