Barty back in pole position for No.1 spot
ASHLEIGH Barty has piled the rankings pressure on Naomi Osaka with a fighting first-round US Open victory in New York.
Barty’s 1-6, 6-3, 6-2 comeback win over Zarina Diyas has moved Australia’s French Open champion into pole position to regain the world No.1 spot at the completion of the season’s final grand slam.
Her advance to the second round leaves Osaka, who opened her campaign at Flushing Meadows overnight against Russian Anna Blinkova, needing to defend her crown to have any hope of retaining the top ranking.
Karolina Pliskova and Wimbledon champion Simona Halep are the only other players with an opportunity to claim the top spot after Barty rose to No.1 in live rankings with her gritty first-round victory.
But Pliskova, who edged Czech qualifier Tereza Martincova 7-6 (8-6), 7-6 (7-3) in her opener yesterday, must make at least the quarter-finals at Flushing Meadows, while Halep would have to win the title.
All business, Barty made it clear she was focused only on tennis after needing almost an hour and three quarters to see off the 77th-ranked Diyas.
Not interested in idle chit chat, the one-time cricket star batted away questions about Australia’s Ashes hopes from American journalists fascinated by her all-round sporting skills.
“I’m not really here to talk about cricket,” she said.
“Look, I enjoy watching it but I’m not a cricket analyst. I’m not going to try to coach from the sidelines. Just be a spectator and enjoy watching.”
Barty was more concerned about raising her level for tomorrow’s second-round clash with American Lauren Davis.
“Lauren’s obviously one of the tougher challenges, playing an American in the US Open,” the second seed said.
“She’s been on a little bit of a heater over the past couple of months and had some good wins and coming back to some of her best stuff.”