Barty leads the Aussie women’s US charge

ASHLEIGH Barty completed a banner first day for Australia’s women’s tennis contingent with a crushing win over 21st seed Ana Konjuh at the US Open.

Barty opened up the draw for herself with a 4-6, 6-0, 6-1 triumph over the highly-rated Croat to join Arina Rodionova and Ajla Tomljanovic in the second round.

Flying after collecting her maiden WTA title in New Haven on Sunday, former US Open junior champion Daria Gavrilova had the chance to make it four from four for Australia’s women this morning.

And that’s without injured 2011 champion and former world No.4 Samantha Stosur in the field.

“It’s great. Obviously we had a pretty good day and I feel like Aussie women’s tennis is moving in the right direction,” Barty said.

“It would be nice to have Sam here as well, but we’re all comfortable on these courts and hopefully Dasha can play well tomorrow as well.

“I feel like where we are as a Fed Cup team, as a tennis nation, is a pretty good spot.”

The promising start to the season’s final grand slam event comes after Rodionova was Australia’s only first-round winner at Wimbledon.

“I certainly don’t think there was panic or anything. It wasn’t like we were smashed and hit off the court,” Barty said.

“It just didn’t quite fall our way. It’s positive that we’ve been able to flick the switch and get it moving here.

“But we’ve also had a really good summer, with Dash playing amazing last week and I’ve played some good matches and had another solid (preparation) leading in.

“It’s just been a really consistent year and we’re super pleased with that.”

Barty, 21, showed maturity to hold her nerve after falling behind 4-0 in the opening set, winning 16 of the last 19 games against Konjuh.

“Even though it was 4-0 pretty quickly, I knew all I needed to do was settle and get into the match,” she said.

Barty’s victory was her first match at Flushing Meadows since quitting the sport after the 2014 Open and enjoying a stint in Women’s Big Bash League cricket.