LET’S GET THIS BARTY STARTED

Jelena Dokic backs Aussie rising star to thrive on home courts, writes Terry Mallinder

THE drought may be about to end. At least for our girls at the Australian Open.

Player-turned-commentator Jelena Dokic has backed Ashleigh Barty to fly the flag in a big way at Melbourne Park over the next fortnight.

Dokic, who will be courtside as part of Channel 9’s coverage, was the last Aussie to reach the final eight in the women’s draw.

She reached the quarter-finals in 2009 as a wildcard entrant during her second stint representing her adopted country.

While our only female grand slam winner in the recent times, Samantha Stosur, has struggled with the weight of expectations on home soil, Dokic expects Barty to thrive.

“She will have a lot of eyes on her,” Dokic said of the Ipswich product. “People want to see her do well.

“I think she’s handled the pressure since she’s come back to tennis.

“It doesn’t seem to affect her. It’s always different playing at home but she seems to be handling everything really well.”

Barty has enjoyed a careerbest season, improving her world ranking on the back of WTA title wins in Nottingham and Zhuhai.

She has backed that up with a second straight Sydney International final appearance, beaten in Saturday night’s epic decider by Petra Kvitova.

Barty enters the first major of the year as Australia’s highest female seed since Stosur in 2013 and as equal-sixth favourite with Ladbrokes.

“She’s finished the year 15th in the world, which is a great result,” Dokic said.

“She’s had another great year, a lot of great wins. She’s making that push, hopefully, towards the top 10.

“And she had a bit of a breakthrough at the US Open, making the fourth round. She’d never made it past the third round (at a grand slam) in her career.”

Barty has made the third round at Melbourne Park the past two years since returning to tennis from a stint playing cricket.

“I think she’s got an incredible game, so versatile, so much variety,” Dokic said.

Dokic had different levels of pressure to deal with during her own career, off-court battles that have been well documented. But when it came to trying to perform on her home stage, she loved it.

“I never really felt pressure playing here. I loved playing in Australia ... even at times when I didn’t do well. I enjoyed it. I enjoyed going out and playing in front of the Australian public.

“Some players deal with it better, some players don’t.”

Among the latter unfortunately has been Stosur, who at 34 is in the twilight of a career that includes a US Open title but never making it past the fourth round Down Under.

She’s been bundled out in the first round the past three years for an overall 18-16 win-loss record.

“I think Sam has talked openly about wanting to play well in Australia but she’s just not been able to do it, and felt that pressure,” Dokic said.

Barty, 22, flew to Melbourne on Saturday night after her loss to Kvitova in Sydney, and following a rest yesterday takes on Thailand’s Luksika Kumkhum in the first round tonight.

“I think the only expectation is that which I put on myself, to do everything right and to put myself in a position to perform as best that I can,” Barty said.

“The support we get in Australia is phenomenal. All Aus-