Rivals left in awe of world No.1

ASH Barty’s rivals will be out to gatecrash the Barty Party when the World No.1 continues her Australian Open preparation at the Sydney Tennis Classic this week.

Barty’s quest to become the first Aussie woman in more than 40 years to win the Australian Open is off to a strong start – she looked in supreme form en route to the final of the Adelaide International. However, things could be about to get a bit harder. She faced only one top-10 player in Adelaide but could meet as many as three as she pursues glory at the Sydney Tennis Classic.

The Sydney-based tournament, which gets under way on Monday, will be Barty’s last chance to limber up ahead of the Australian Open. And her rivals are out to make sure she doesn’t enter the first grand slam of the year on a high. World No.3 Garbine Muguruza (pictured) has beaten Barty before and wouldn’t shy away from the task of facing her again.

“She’s maintaining her level in a very good way,” Muguruza said. “She’s a very talented player. It’s always difficult to face her … I’ll be looking forward to facing her because that means that we are in a deep round of the tournament.”

Muguruza lost in the final of the 2020 Australian Open and was knocked out of last year’s tournament by eventual winner Naomi Osaka.

World No.5 Barbora Krejcikova has been tracking Barty’s progress.

“She’s a really good player,” Krejcikova said.

“I’ve been watching her last week in Adelaide. She’s been playing amazing tennis.

“I hope that we’re gonna have a big chance to beat her, at least one of us. She’s a huge player, a great champion.”