While most of the world’s top players jumped through all the hoops and over the daunting barriers created by the world pandemic a year ago, Ashleigh Barty stayed home. She hunkered down in Australia, missed the reconstituted US Open and French Open and quietly planned her exit strategy.
The result is a five-month work still in progress, a sometimes excellent road adventure that has brought a Wimbledon title, the continued World No.1 ranking – and a desperate case of homesickness.
Last month at the Tokyo Olympics, Australia came to Barty. She was one of 478 Australian athletes competing in 30 sports.
“Yeah, it was a bit of a strange feeling,” Barty said Monday at the Western & Southern Open. “Being around so many other Aussies just created this incredible feeling of home and normalcy.
Head to Head
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“I think to be able to spend time with other athletes and knowing how much time and effort they have put into their Olympic careers with that extra year on top of it. And for me to be able to see that created this real sense of togetherness, and we are all united. I think at Aussie headquarters in the Village, that was a really strong sense of that.”
It had been a long time, Barty remarked to her coach, Craig Tyzzer, since they’d heard so many Aussie accents and normal conversation. Australia came away with 17 gold medals, seven silver and 22 bronze – one of those going to Barty and John Peers in mixed doubles.
In Cincinnati, the focus is on singles and, as typically happens in WTA 1000 events, a loaded field awaits. Wednesday, after a first-round bye, the 25-year-old got past qualifier Heather Watson 6-4, 7-6(3).
Her serve wasn’t always cooperative, her backhand was balky and Barty seemed to be missing her trademark confidence.
“She’s qualified here, so played three matches already,” Barty said in her on-court interview. “It was always going to be an exceptionally tough match for me to find my groove and find my rhythm.
“There’s a little work to be done, but that’s OK. We get another opportunity tomorrow.”
A tricky encounter but the No.1 seed prevails 👏@ashbarty gets past Watson 6-4, 7-6(3)!#CincyTennis pic.twitter.com/ei3u1MO4lI
— wta (@WTA) August 18, 2021
That Round of 16 opportunity comes against last year's champion at this event, No.14 seed Victoria Azarenka, who Wednesday defeated Alison Riske 6-2, 7-5.
Barty leads the head-to-head 2-1, with their most recent meeting, in Miami’s Round of 16, going to Barty with the extreme score line of 6-1, 1-6, 6-2.
The Western & Southern Open has featured these kinds of marquee matchups right out of the box. On Tuesday night, in the obscurity of Court 4, Belinda Bencic reprised her gold medal victory over Marketa Vondrousova. In Wednesday’s second round, 15 of the WTA’s top-ranked 16 players were in action.
Barty’s bronze medal, appropriately in this difficult time, is sitting in quarantine in Australia. One of the Olympic team physios is sitting out his mandatory two weeks and will drop it off with Barty’s parents, Josie and Robert, in Ipswich, Queensland.
“At the Village, it was really cool,” Barty said. “I loved the fact I could chuck my hat, my sunnies, and my mask on, and I felt like no one was going to recognize me. I think unfortunately a few of the athletes did.”
Truth be told, Barty was one of Australia’s most sought-after selfie subjects in the Olympic Village, and she was happy to comply.
It’s all been a blur for Barty, who was forced to retire from her second-round match at the French Open with a left hip injury. She came back to beat Karolina Pliskova in the Wimbledon final on July 9, traveled to the Bahamas for a “bit of a strange holiday,” then played her first-round singles match in Tokyo 15 days later.
Not surprisingly, the Wimbledon victory has yet to make a proper impression.
“Honestly, no,” Barty said. “I think I was still trying to comprehend in my brain what we were able to achieve as a team, and particularly the adversity we went through in-between kind of the French Open period and through Wimbledon.
For the time being, I’m excited to have another chance to play here in Cincy, to get to New York and to play there.”
Other notable Thursday Round of 16 matches:
No.2 Naomi Osaka vs. Jil Teichmann
After dropping the first set to Coco Gauff, Osaka came back to win 4-6, 6-3, 6-4. Teichmann handled wildcard Bernarda Pera 6-1, 6-4.
Angelique Kerber vs. Jelena Ostapenko
Kerber defeated No.4 seed Elina Svitolina 7-5, 2-6, 6-4, while Ostapenko advanced 6-7(2), 5-4 when No.13 Jennifer Brady retired due to foot injury.
No.8 Garbiñe Muguruza vs. No.9 Barbora Krejcikova
It’s the 2016 French Open champion against the 2021 winner in Paris. Muguruza defeated Caroline Garcia 6-4, 6-3, while Krejcikova bested Dayana Yastremska 6-1, 7-6 (5).
No.10 Belinda Bencic vs. Karolina Muchova
Muchova surprised No.7 seed Bianca Andreescu 6-4, 6-2. Bencic was a 7-6 (1), 6-1 winner over Shelby Rogers.
Paula Badosa vs. Elena Rybakina
A rare unseeded matchup: Badosa scored the upset of the tournament so far, upsetting No.3 Aryna Sabalenka 5-7, 6-2, 7-6 (4). Rybakina dispatched No.15 Elise Mertens 6-3, 6-2.
No.11 Petra Kvitova vs. Ons Jabeur
Jabeur surprised No.6 Iga Swiatek 6-3, 6-3, while Kvitova defeated Veronika Kudermetova 6-2, 6-4.
Click here for full order of play for Thursday, 19 August.
