The Courier & Advertiser (Fife Edition)
Barty claims top spot with comfortable win
Ashleigh Barty became world number one in style with victory over doubles partner Julia Goerges in the final of the Nature Valley Classic in Birmingham.
The 23-year-old French Open champion beat Goerges 6-3 7-5 in 88 minutes and will replace Naomi Osaka at the top of the rankings when they are updated today.
Barty did not drop a set all week and took the first comfortably, but had to recover from 3-0 down in the second and save a set point in the 10th game before breaking Goerges in the next and serving out to love.
Barty is just the second Australian woman to become world number one since the WTA introduced rankings in 1975, Evonne Goolagong Cawley spending two weeks as number one in 1976.
“I’m a little bit speechless at the moment,” Barty said during the on-court trophy presentation after extending her winning streak to 12 matches.
“It’s been a whirlwind few weeks for me, a whirlwind year, but to be able to follow in the footsteps of Evonne, even to be mentioned in the same sentence as her is incredible.
“What she’s done for our sport, for Australians all around the world, she’s put us on the map and what she’s done for indigenous Australians as well has just been remarkable.
“You always dream of it (being world number one) as a little kid but for it to become a reality is incredible.
“It’s not something that was even in my realm. This year we were aiming for top 10 and now to be where we are is a testament to all of the people around me.
“We started from scratch three-anda-half years ago without a ranking and now to be where we are is not only for me, but a massive, massive achievement for them.”
Sofia Kenin staged a stunning comeback to win the Mallorca Open final.
The American saved three match points in the second set to come from behind and defeat Belinda Bencic 6-7 (2-7) 7-6 (7-5) 6-4 in two hours and 42 minutes.
Kenin got the decisive break of serve at 4-4 in the deciding set and the number six seed served it out to claim her second title of the season.
Britain’s Johanna Konta eased into the second round of the Nature Valley International at Eastbourne with a 6-2 6-4 victory over Dayana Yastremska.
Heather Watson, Katie Swan and Harriet Dart all crashed out in the first round, leaving Konta as the sole British representative.
Watson suffered a 7-5 6-2 defeat to Alize Cornet, Swan was beaten 7-6 (9-7) 4-6 6-4 by Zhang Shuai and Dart lost 3-6 6-4 6-2 to her Australian Open doubles partner, 16th-seed Anett Kontaveit.