Roos on right track
ASHLEIGH Barty will head to Wimbledon next week with a career- high world ranking of 54.
The Australian was outplayed in her tough three- set loss to Petra Kvitova in the final of the WTA grasscourt event in Birmingham on Sunday.
But her progression to the decider, which included upset wins over top- 25 players Garbine Muguruza and Barbora Strycova, improved her winloss singles record this year to 24- 10.
Barty started the year as the world No. 271 in her full- time comeback following a break from tennis in 2015.
Barty conceded only one point in her opening four service games against Kvitova, breaking the two- time Wimbledon champion in the third game before taking the first set.
But her Czech opponent’s explosive serve ultimately proved too much in the 4- 6, 6- 3, 6- 2 result.
Nonetheless, Barty is hopeful for a strong showing at the All England Club next week, where she was junior champion in 2011.
“I think it was a pretty high quality match,” Barty, 21, said of the Kvitova clash.
“We both started well and I served particularly well in that first set and I think it gave me the upper hand.
“I’ve played some quality tennis and lost to only a couple of good players. So I’m really excited and I can’t wait to get to Wimbledon.”
Barty is also enjoying strong doubles form with compatriot Casey Dellacqua, which may also be fuelling her confidence.
The pair won the doubles crown in Birmingham – their third title of the year.
“It was nice to really finish the week on a positive note,” Barty said. FOR Ange Postecoglou there was regret to go with the pride. A sense of what might have been.
The Socceroos manager saw a “missed opportunity” in Russia after his young side put in a rousing performance against Chile in their final group game at the Confederations Cup, but ultimately failed to secure the victory needed to reach the semi- finals.
After defeat to Germany and a draw with Cameroon, Australia were behind the eight ball in Moscow, needing to win by two clear goals to leapfrog the South American champions in the final standings.
Few gave them a chance. But they looked for long periods like pulling it off. And arguably worth more than a solitary point for their efforts.
“I thought we were the better side and deserved to get something out of it,” said Postecoglou.
“I don’t see it as progression, I see it as what we’re expecting at the moment and we measure ourselves against the very best and we’re not quite there yet at the moment. We’ll keep pushing forward and making sure we keep developing. We needed to face up to them tonight. It’s what we want to be as a team. We’ve tried to be like that against every team we’ve played.
“That was the most important thing for us. We obviously wanted to win the game and win by two goals but more importantly we wanted to be the team that was dominating the game.”
Biting into tackles and showing bravery and composure on the ball, Australia did just that for large spells, after Postecoglou shuffled his pack in terms of selection. Six changes from the Cameroon game and a couple of positional tweaks paid dividends.
Australia for large spells outfought and outplayed a Chile side renowned for their work ethic as much as they are incisive passing and goal threat.
“The most important thing for us was not to let Chile dominate the game. When you allow them to dominate the game its almost impossible to beat them,” said Postecoglou.
“We needed to be at our best today and we were going to need energy for that and that’s why we made the changes. Credit to the guys who came in. They certainly brought that and more.”
There were standout performances across the park, few more so than in the fresh defensive midfield partnership of Massimo Luongo and Jackson Irvine, who set the tone from the off, refusing to be cowed by more celebrated opponents.
“It was going to be intense from the start, we know how tenacious and aggressive Chile are and the way they like to play,” said Irvine.
“First and foremost you have to match that. Right from the offset we made our intent very clear.”