'So amazing': Ash Barty's incredibly classy moment in French Open victory speech

Ash Barty paid a brilliant tribute to Sam Stosur in her victory speech after winning the French Open, perfectly side-stepping a controversy around Margaret Court with class.

The 23-year-old beat unseeded Czech Marketa Vondrousova 6-1 6-3 in Paris on Saturday to become Australia's fourth French Open champion, and first in 46 years.

Barty, who only returned to tennis three years ago, was ruthlessly efficient against the 19-year-old as she became just the 17th Australian female player to win a grand slam.

The last Aussie woman to win at Roland Garros was Court, but Barty didn’t want a bar of praising the controversial figure after her triumph.

When asked if she was inspired by the female players before her like Court, Barty instead chose to single out Stosur for praise.

The much-maligned Stosur has gone agonisingly close to claiming the trophy at the French Open, but has never managed to do so.

Barty said Stosur’s feats - including winning the 2011 US Open - were inspirational to her.

Court, a devout Christian, has caused controversy in the tennis world in recent years with her comments against homosexual players.

And fans noticed Barty didn’t mention her.

New World No.2

"It's remarkable," Barty said.

"At the moment it's a bit too much and a bit out there, really.

"But it's amazing. We have done the work, and we tried to put ourselves in these positions. Now that we're here, it's just incredible."

Barty's success in Paris means she is the ninth different winner from the last 10 slams and a genuine contender for Wimbledon next month on her favourite surface of grass.

Five years after quitting the sport in despair, Barty has now joined Australian legends Margaret Court (1962, '64, '69, '70, '73), Evonne Goolagong Cawley (1971) and Lesley Bowrey (1963, '65) on the Roland Garros honour roll

"For the last fortnight, the stars have aligned for me," she said.

"I have been able to play really good tennis when I've needed it.

"I never dreamt that I'd be sitting here with this trophy here at the French Open.

"I mean, obviously we have dreams and goals as children, but this is incredible."

The new queen of clay will also pocket a cool $3.74 million after taking out her maiden grand slam at a tournament where she'd never passed the second round on five previous visits.

Her new ranking will be the highest of an Australian woman since Goolagong Cawley reached top spot in 1976, and she follows her idol's footsteps by becoming the second Indigenous Australian to lift the Suzanne Lenglen Cup.

"Evonne sent me a text a couple days ago and said this was her first grand slam," she said.

"I spotted her name on the trophy. I'll give her a call a little bit later on.

"She's created this path for indigenous tennis in Australia and I think now it's becoming more nationwide.

"There are more opportunities for kids to start playing tennis, both male and female."

Barty will catch up with her parents, who missed the chance to get to Paris after flying in to the UK from Brisbane just hours before she went on court.

Barty's mother Josie has relatives in Nottingham, and along with her dad Rob, they watched her triumph, just hours after landing at Birmingham airport.

"It was planned they were always coming to the UK," she said.

"It just so happened they were flying in today.

"There was never, you know, a kind of spark in my mind or question that they would come here for me.

"I know they're watching. I know they are living through every single point with me and every single ride with me."

"They flew in and only landed an hour or two before we actually went on the court. So there was no physical possibility they could get to Paris.

"I will see them tomorrow. You know, obviously give them a big hug and a big kiss. It will be really nice to see them again, because it's been a few weeks."

with AAP