BEERS AND A BREAK

Barty to take some R and R after her shock defeat at Wimbledon

TENNIS: Assured of retaining the world No.1 ranking, Ashleigh Barty will celebrate a phenomenal European campaign with a few beers and a brief break.

Beaten by unseeded American Alison Riske in the fourth round of the singles draw, Barty immediately withdrew from third-round doubles with Victoria Azarenka, citing right arm soreness.

The French Open champion’s 3-6 6-2 6-3 loss toriske opened the door forkarolina Pliskova to usurp theaustralian as No.1 next week.

But Pliskova’s 4-6 7-5 13-11 loss in an all-czech cliffhanger to Karolina Muchova meansbartywill remain at the top for a few more weeks at least.

Of the remaining survivors in the women’s singles draw, none is close enough to catch Barty’s 6405 rankings points tally even with title success.

Barty will emerge from Wimbledon with a slender 118-point lead over Australian and US Open champion Naomi Osaka (6377).

Pliskova, who could have taken over at No.1 with a semi-final appearance at Wimbeldon, is next on 6055. Dutchwoman Kiki Bertens is fourth with 5430 points.

Barty will now head home to Ipswich for a deserved break.

With only one loss in her past 16 singlesmatches, amaiden grand slam and a second WTA Premier victory (Birmingham), Barty remains the most successful woman on tour this season.

She was typically upbeat after coming to terms with the Riske defeat.

“Rest and recover,” she said when asked of her plans.

“I think it’s also important to really celebrate what we’ve been able to achieve over the last eight weeks. It’s been an extremely positive time for me and my team.

“Go and rest and recover with the family back home, then switch focus back to the hard courts in the US, which I love. I love getting back over to the summertime there. I have some really good memories from last year.

“We go back, we knuckle down, train again, then we go again.”

Barty last season used tournaments in Montreal and Cincinnati as preparation for a fourth-round finish at theusopen.

The right-hander almost certainly will follow a similar schedule this season, travelling to Toronto and Cincinnati before arriving in New York. Barty’s Wimbledon singles departure leaves 23-time major winner Serena Williams and 2018 French Open champion Simona Halep as the only two players of the remaining eight women to win a slam.