The solid world number one dreams of a first coronation in Melbourne.
The land of kangaroos has been waiting since 1978 for a successor to Christine “Chris” O’Neil. 44 years of waiting. An eternity for a strong nation of the little yellow ball, which monopolized the titles in Melbourne among the ladies at the start of the Open era with no less than 10 coronations between 1969 and 1978. Ancient history. In 2022, however, Australia has a trump card in the person of world number Ashleigh Barty, winner of two Grand Slams (Roland-Garros 2019 and Wimbledon 2021), but never crowned at home, where she did not do better than a semi-final in 2020. The former cricket champion knows how to manage pressure, however, she who wore the world number 1 bib throughout the 2021 season and joined legends of the game like Steffi Graf, Martina Navratilova, Chris Evert or Serena Williams, having finished at the top of the world rankings, three seasons in a row.
A possible clash against Osaka in the round of 16
The Australian has just celebrated her 103e consecutive week, alone in the lead, however, was not spared the draw, since she could find defending champion Naomi Osaka, in 8e of final. And if the Japanese returns to her best level, the task may be complicated for the local idol. Barty had prematurely ended his season last September to return to Australia after falling in the third round at the US Open. The 25-year-old champion, who recently got engaged, didn’t lose momentum as she came out on top in her restart tournament in Adelaide after a four-month absence. She withdrew in stride at the Sydney Classic, according to the precautionary principle. Reassured to have quickly found her bearings, after having won the 14e title of her career by dominating without losing a set of players like Coco Gauff (22nd player in the world), Sofia Kenin (12th), Iga Swiatek (9th) and Elena Rybakina (7the).
Read alsoTwo years after Roland-Garros, Barty offers Wimbledon
What to approach his Grand Slam at home with some certainties. “I feel good before the Australian Open, like every year, said the world number one in Adelaide. I think I did a good job controlling my service games, controlling the tempo of the match with my service games. So we take it as it comes, we push forward and we try to do our best at every opportunity, whether it’s here in Adelaide or in Melbourne.” Having become the first Australian to win at Wimbledon last year since Evonne Goolagong Cawley in 1980, Ashleigh Barty still wants to dust off the history books of Australian tennis during the fortnight.
.
