Ashleigh Barty beat Germany’s Julia Goerges 6-3 7-5 in the final to win the Birmingham Classic grass court title on Sunday.  Barty will overtake Japan’s Naomi Osaka off the summit when the new rankings are released Monday.

The 23-year-old Indigenous Australian from Queensland now becomes the third Australian woman in history to hold the number one ranking in the world in singles by the Women’s Tennis Association (WTA), following in the footsteps of Evonne Goolagong Cawley and Margaret Court.

“It’s been the most incredible journey for me and my team,” Barty said on court after a standing ovation from the crowd.

Barty, continued, “It’s not something that was even in my realm this year; we were aiming to be top 10 and now to be where we are is a testament to the people around me who’ve been with me these last three years.

“It has been such an amazing journey. We started from scratch, without a ranking, and to be where we are is a massive achievement for me and for them. It’s a dream come true.”

Roger Federer won his 10th Halle Open title, defeating  David Goffin 7-6 (2), 6-1. This was Federer’s 13th final in Halle and his third trophy this year following wins in Miami and Dubai. It was Federer’s 102nd title overall.

Federer struggled early on with a couple of three set matches but got his grove as the tournament went on. This is the ideal Wimbledon preparation Federer could have hoped for.

Federer first played the Halle Open as an 18-year-old in 2000, when both his current coach, Ivan Ljubicic, and Goffin’s coach, Thomas Johansson, played it, too  But the old man is staying playing at 37 and winning!

His main rivals for the Wimbledon title, Novak Djokovic and Rafael Nadal decided not to play any grass court tournaments prior to Wimbledon. French Open finalist Dominic Thiem was originally scheduled to play Halle but pulled out.

Other dark horse contenders for Wimbledon include Matteo Berrettini (Stuggart winner), Felix-Auger Aliassime (Stuggart finalist and Queens semifinalist), Sasha Zverev (still struggling, but less so than a few months ago) and Stefanos Tsitsipas