ASH WEDNESDAY
PLAYING with freedom and no fear, Ashleigh Barty has powered into the Australian Open third round without even a coach.
Barty clubbed China’s Yafan Wang 6-2, 6-3 yesterday before revealing she had been largely flying solo during her charge to the last 32 for only the second time. With trusty mentor Craig Tyzzer quarantining himself from Melbourne Park with a virus, Barty has been leaning on Fed Cup captain Alicia Molik for support while carrying the hopes of the nation.
“He’s crook. He’s on bed rest at the moment,” Barty said of Tyzzer.
“[I’m] extremely lucky to have a Fed Cup captain in ‘Mol’, who I’ve spent a lot of time with around Fed Cup, as well, but Mol is also around a lot of the slams. It’s a very seamless transition. I still have the same discussion with Tyz. It’s just not face to face; it’s over the phone. Then Mol is able to relay that as well and to reassure me.”
Barty’s win was her sixth in nine days. “It’s great to be playing in Australia and playing well,” she said.
“Very happy with the way I have started 2019, not just here in Melbourne but also in Perth and Sydney, hell of a start.”
Barty will play Maria Sakkari tomorrow for a place in the second week of the Open for the first time. The pair have split their previous two encounters, but Barty is wary after losing to the Greek in straight sets last year in Indian Wells, California.
“Maria, I’m great friends with and have a really great relationship,” Barty said of Sakkari. AUSTRALIAN wildcard Kimberly Birrell has secured the most important victory of her burgeoning tennis career, ousting No.29 seed Donna Vekic.
Birrell, 20, won 6-4, 4-6, 6-1 against the Croatian yesterday to set up a thirdround clash with German second seed Angelique Kerber.
“It is so surreal,” Birrell said. “That was just such a blur, but all I know is I left it all out there. I used the energy from the crowd and they were the best. “I get to play again. It’s crazy.” After two tight sets, Birrell stepped up to dominate the decider, though she admitted to some nerves when she was serving for the match.
“There were so many things going through my head,” she said.