2 February 2021 | Vivienne Christie

Back to business as she claimed a first victory at the Yarra Valley Classic, Ash Barty was also back where she belonged.

Almost a year since contesting her last official singles match, the world No.1 took 78-minutes to overcome Ana Bogdan 6-3 6-3.

“Overall I felt pretty good. I think Ana did an exceptional job in making me play to a very high standard. I knew right from the first point I was going to have to be ready tonight and switched on straightaway,” said Barty of the world No.93 Bogdan.

“(I’m) obviously happy to come through reasonably unscathed and roll with the momentum pretty well.”

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Hitting 22 winners compared to 11 from the Romanian, Barty easily managed the only break point she saved while serving for the win.

It validated the hard work completed with coach Craig Tyzzer in her time away from competitive tennis, Barty encouraged that it showed amid the pressure of a match.

“I thought it was brilliant. I thought I was able to stick to the idea of what we wanted to do, stick to our game plan of what we wanted to do tonight to try and dissect Ana’s game as best as we could,” she said.

“I thought it was solid throughout the whole night.

“Of course, there are always things I’m looking to improve after every match, after every performance. But without a doubt, happy with how it went tonight.”

Barty was equally happy to embrace some enthusiastic supporters, the world No.1 admitting it was an element of competing that she’d missed.

“I’m very fortunate and very lucky and grateful to be able to play in front of a crowd, particularly here in Victoria. I know how tough it’s been for so many Melburnians over the last 12 months. I really feel for them,” she commented.

“I feel like this is an opportunity for me just to be really happy on the court, enjoy it, enjoy the experience.

“And when I look up or when I hear young boys and girls, when I hear them in the crowd, it always makes me smile no matter how the match is going, no matter the result, knowing they are enjoying it just as much as I am.”

Barty will next enjoy that experience in the third round against Marie Bouzkova, a world No.52 Czech.

“I think being able to now get another opportunity tomorrow to continue to work on things and build to what will hopefully be a long and successful season will be really good,” she said.

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There was also a happy day out for another high profile Australian, Daria Gavrilova combining with world No.2 Simona Halep to progress to the Gippsland Trophy doubles second round.

Gavrilova and Halep defeated the Swiss-Czech duo of Belinda Bencic and Barbora Styrcova, and will face top seeds Gabriela Dabrowski and Bethanie Mattek-Sands, from Canada and the US respectively, next.

Abbie Myers and Ivana Popovic also combined for a victory, the Australians overcoming Georgina Garcia Perez and Oksana Kalashnikova 6-1 6-2.

In the Gippsland Trophy singles event, Australia’s Destanee Aiava bowed out to Germany’s Laura Siegemund 6-2 6-2 in the second round.

YARRA VALLEY CLASSIC

RESULTS

Women’s singles, second round
[1] Ash Barty (AUS) d Ana Bogdan 6-3 6-3

Women’s doubles, second round
[4] Duan Yingying (CHN)/Zheng Saisai (CHN) d [WC] Olivia Gadecki (AUS)/Belinda Woolcock (AUS) 3-6 7-6(2) [11-9]

COMING UP 

Women’s singles, third round
[1] Ash Barty (AUS) v [16] Marie Bouzkova (CZE)

Women’s doubles, second round
[8] Ash Barty (AUS)/Jennifer Brady (USA) v Ons Jabeur (TUN)/Christina McHale (USA)

GIPPSLAND TROPHY

RESULTS

Women’s singles, second round
[16] Laura Siegemund (GER) d [WC] Destanee Aiava (AUS) 6-2 6-2

Women’s doubles, first round
[WC] Daria Gavrilova (AUS)/Simona Halep (ROU) d Belinda Bencic (SUI)/Barbora Strycova (CZE) 6-2 6-2
[WC] Abbie Myers (AUS)/Ivana Popovic (AUS) d Georgina Garcia Perez (ESP)/Oksana Kalashnikova (GEO) 6-1 6-2
[8] Anna Blinkova (RUS)/Veronika Kudermetova (RUS) d Ajla Tomljanovic (AUS)/Alison Riske (USA) 1-6 6-2 [10-7]

Women’s doubles, second round
[1] Barbora Krejcikova (CZE)/Katerina Siniakova (CZE) d [WC] Destanee Aiava (AUS)/Astra Sharma (AUS) 6-4 2-6 [10-8]

COMING UP

Women’s doubles second round
[WC] Daria Gavrilova (AUS)/Simona Halep (ROU) v [3] Gabriela Dabrowski (CAN)/Bethanie Mattek-Sands
Arina Rodionova (AUS)/Storm Sanders (AUS) v Marie Bouzkova (CZE)/Sara Sorribes Tormo (ESP)
[WC] Abbie Myers (AUS)/Ivana Popovic (AUS) v [8] Anna Blinkova (RUS)/Veronika Kudermetova (RUS)

Tickets for the Melbourne Summer Series, which begin from $20 for adults and $5 for children, are available through Ticketmaster. All events will be played within the Margaret Court Arena Zone at Melbourne Park.

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