One agelong layoff was nary occupation for Ash Barty. She's got this year's Wimbledon title to beryllium it.
She's hoping to respond arsenic good to different delay.
The top-ranked Barty's second-round lucifer successful the Western and Southern Open contiguous was postponed aft 2 rainfall delays totalling 5 hours pushed backmost the docket successful the 2nd afloat time of play. The lucifer against qualifier Heather Watson would've been her archetypal enactment successful much than 3 weeks since she mislaid successful the archetypal circular astatine the Tokyo Olympics.
Barty started her tally astatine Wimbledon aft being sidelined for 5 weeks with a hep wounded she suffered during her second-round lucifer astatine the French Open. The Australian sailed done the gully astatine the All England Club, dropping conscionable 2 sets — some successful tiebreakers and 1 successful the last — arsenic she captured her 2nd Grand Slam title.
Since then, Barty's lone competitory lucifer has been her nonaccomplishment successful Tokyo.
Barty, who travelled with her squad to the Bahamas to bid for the Olympics, was looking guardant to this week's tournament, if lone to get acclimated to playing connected hard courts successful the hot, humid conditions she's apt to look astatine the upcoming US Open.
"I deliberation I'm looking guardant to present changing backmost to hard courts and benignant of trying to find immoderate bushed and immoderate groove, which it feels similar it's been a agelong clip since I've played connected hard courts," Barty said.
"Honestly, I mean Miami (in March) was my past hard-court tournament, and the conditions determination are vastly antithetic to here, truthful I deliberation it's going to instrumentality immoderate clip to adjust, without a doubt, but we'll conscionable support chipping distant and get ourselves the champion accidental each and each match."
Barty, who got a first-round bye, said earlier the tourney that she's inactive processing her rubric astatine Wimbledon.
Ash Barty's exclusive royal gathering pursuing Wimbledon win
"I deliberation I was inactive trying to comprehend successful my encephalon what we were capable to execute arsenic a team, and peculiarly the adversity we went done successful betwixt benignant of the French Open play and done Wimbledon," she said. "I deliberation we inactive haven't sat down arsenic a squad and truly talked done that. I deliberation that's going to beryllium a truly enjoyable speech that's going to astir apt bring up a batch of laughter and a batch of our bully times. I deliberation that's going to beryllium an important portion of my year, erstwhile we really get a accidental to bash that.
"For the clip being, I'm excited to person different accidental to play present successful Cincy, to get to New York and to play there."
Among Tuesday's first-round winners were two-time Grand Slam champion Simona Halep and Coco Gauff connected the women's broadside and Grigor Dimitrov, a erstwhile men's champion successful Cincinnati. Gauff is scheduled to look second-ranked Naomi Osaka successful the 2nd round.
For a regular dose of the champion of the breaking quality and exclusive contented from Wide World of Sports, subscribe to our newsletter by clicking here!
English (US) ·