'Nothing changed': Tennis world's beautiful reaction to adorable Ash Barty pic

A photo of Ash Barty as a young child has gone viral after her incredible triumph at the French Open.

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.

In the aftermath you’d expect Barty to go viral, but perhaps not like this.

The tennis world has reacted to the incredible moment by celebrating a photo of Barty as a six-year-old in which she’s holding a racquet in one hand and a trophy in the other.

One fan tweaked the image slightly so she was holding the French Open trophy.

And the tennis world absolutely loved it, with a number of stars sharing it with congratulatory messages.

The speed at which it went viral meant Barty was asked about it in her post-match interviews.

“That photo has gone far and wide across the world,” Barty said.

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."

with AAP