Las Vegas Review-Journal (Sunday)
Barty on! Aussie happy to be back
French Open women’s title caps off return to sport after two-year break
PARIS — Ash Barty knew she needed a break from tennis, from the pressure and expectations, from the week-in, week-out grind. So she stepped away in 2014 and wound up trying her hand at cricket, joining a professional team at home in Australia.
After almost two years away, Barty was pulled back to the tour.
Good choice: Now she’s a Grand Slam champion.
Taking control right from the start of the French Open final and never really letting go, the No. 8-seeded Barty capped a quick-as-can-be rise in her return to the sport by beating unseeded 19-yearold Marketa Vondrousova of the Czech Republic 6-1, 6-3 Saturday for her first major championship.
“I never closed any doors, saying, ‘I’m never playing tennis again.’ For me, I needed time to step away, to live a normal life because this tennis life certainly isn’t normal. I think I needed time to grow as a person, to mature,” Barty said.
And as for why she came back three years ago?
“I missed the competition. I missed the one-on-one battle, the ebbs and the flows, the emotions you get from winning and losing matches,” said Barty, who will jump to a career-best No. 2 in the rankings on Monday behind Naomi Osaka. “They are so unique and you can only get them when you’re playing and when you put yourself out on the line and when you become vulnerable and try and do things that no one thinks of.”
That last part is an apt description of how she approaches each point, looking for just the right angle or speed, understanding where an opponent might be most vulnerable at any given moment. After using her slice backhand, topspin forehand and kick serve to do just that to Vondrousova, she called it a “kind of ‘Ash Barty brand’ of tennis.” Vondrousova’s take? “She’s mixing things up. And she has a huge serve,” Vondrousova said. “So it’s all, like, very tough to play against.”
Neither Barty, 23, nor Vondrousova had ever played in a Grand Slam final before. Neither had even been in a major semifinal until this week, either. But it was only Vondrousova who seemed jittery at the outset; she was playing at Court Philippe Chatrier for the first time.
Barty wound up with a 27-10 edge in winners to become the first Australian to win the trophy at Roland Garros since Margaret Court in 1973.
“I played the perfect match today,” Barty said.
Pretty close to it, particularly at the beginning. By the end, Barty compiled a 27-10 edge in winners.
It took all of 70 minutes to wrap things up.
“She gave me a lesson today,” said Vondrousova, who is ranked 38th. “I didn’t really feel good today, because she didn’t let me play my game.”