ASHLEIGH TO THE RESCUE
World No 1 crushes Caroline to help Australia pull level with France in Fed Cup
WORLD No 1 Ashleigh Barty emphatically hauled Australia back into contention in the Fed Cup final yesterday, crushing Caroline Garcia 6-0, 6-0 after France’s Kristina Mladenovic whipped her teammate Ajla Tomljanovic.
Ashleigh, fresh from winning the WTA Finals in China, came on court in Perth under pressure after the nervous Ajla was thrashed 6-1, 6-1 in her tournament debut.
But in searing 38 Celsius heat she kept her cool to embarrass a stunned Caroline in a rare double bagel, with the Frenchwoman having no answers to the Ashleigh armoury in front of 13,000 fans.
It left the tie evenly poised at 1-1 ahead of today’s reverse singles and a doubles clash if needed, with Australia targeting an eighth title and first in 45 years, while France are seeking a third, their first since 2003.
“This is remarkable, I couldn’t have asked for a better match,” said Ashleigh in her courtside interview. “I’m so happy to be back here in Perth. I started my year off here and it’s a hell of a way to finish it off.”
The French Open champion, wrapping up a breakthrough season, was imperious, firing down pinpoint first serves and effortlessly pushing Caroline around the court, forcing errors.
She set the tone by breaking Caroline’s first service game and there was no way back for a player who was once ranked four in the world but has slipped to 45.
Ashleigh wrapped up the first set in 29 minutes and there was no let up as she sent down 11 forehand and four backhand winners.
The ease of her win was a huge relief for Australian captain Alicia Molik, whose gamble to play Ajla in singles ahead of veteran Samantha Stosur backfired.
Ajla is scheduled to play again today, but given her performance, Alicia may change her mind and revert to Samantha — Australia’s most successful ever singles player, spanning 16 years of Fed Cup action.
France captain Julien Benneteau faces a similar dilemma with Caroline. His other options are Alize Cornet, Fiona Ferro or Pauline Parmentier.
Currently Ashleigh and Samantha are down to play Kristina and Caroline in what could be a doubles decider.
World No 40 Kristina gave her country a 1-0 lead by destroying Ajla in 71 minutes.
“I think she played good but I just came out there and basically wanted to win,” said Kristina after her 22nd career Fed Cup win.
“I really did almost the perfect match, I was really in the zone. I love these sort of matches, the bigger the pressure, the more special the event.”
Ajla failed to hit a single winner in the opening set. She was broken in the first game and Kristina quickly turned the screws, racing to a 3-0 lead before a double-fault on break-point in game four allowed Ajla a rare glimmer of hope.
But it didn’t last long with Kritina’s powerful forehand proving too hot to handle.
She kept the momentum going in the second set as Ajla wilted under the pressure, galloping to a 5-0 lead before the Australian finally won a game only for Kristina to comfortably serve out the match.