BARTY RALLIES AFTER HICCUP
THE ability to win ugly, not dwell on missed chances, is Ash Barty’s focus, after the world No.1 — and the Adelaide International top seed — survived a major scare.
Australia’s golden girl yesterday advanced to the quarter-finals of the Memorial Drive event with a come-frombehind win over Russia’s Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova.
The French Open champion dropped the first set before overcoming wobbles on her serve to down the world No. 31 4-6, 6-4, 7-5 in a gripping contest.
It secured the Queenslander’s first victory of 2020 and a confidence boost before next week’s Australian Open.
The success also ensured the tournament retained one of its marquee names, following the withdrawals of Venus Williams, Novak Djokovic and Alex de Minaur.
“Something I try to pride myself on is that no matter what the score is, I try to fight and hang around for the whole match every time,” Barty said.
“Last year we did it really well (and) had a really good record when I’d lost the first set of coming back and trying to win those matches, and today was no different.
“I felt like I was doing the right things, I just needed to hang in there and wait for an opportunity to come and try to grab it.
“Those tough wins, those wins when you’re not necessarily playing your best tennis, I think always make you feel pretty good deep down, knowing that you can kind of scrap out of it and get out of it.
“(I was) happy that we were able to get through, even with the ebbs and the flows, and kind of the roller-coaster that it was.”
Barty, who received a bye in the first round, had been bundled out of the Brisbane International by American Jennifer Brady five days earlier.
She again produced a mixed display in only her second match of the year, as she served 11 aces as well as six double faults.
But she stepped up in the deciding set, after the pair exchanged two breaks each, to progress to the last eight.
Barty looked solid early, having been given a rousing reception by the healthy daytime crowd at the revamped North Adelaide venue.
But she was broken in the fifth game and squandered a break point in the next, before Pavlyuchenkova coolly served out the set.
The Queenslander dug deep in the second to secure her first break, only to drop serve two games later.
Barty again broke back in a see-sawing set and held to take the match to a third.
The 23-year-old prevailed twice on her opponent’s serve to race to a 5-2 advantage.
She faltered twice more with the match on her racquet, before finally closing out.
Barty will face either Australian qualifier Arina Rodionova, who had a shock win over Sloane Stephens, or world No.16 Marketa Vondrousova.