In 2020, Ash Barty took a Covid-19 hiatus. She played some golf, watched some AFL and spent time with her dogs. Then she won the first grand slam match she had played in a year – with only 10 points dropped.
Australia’s world No 1 knows how to do a sabbatical. She won the 2019 French Open on the back of one. Based on emphatic 6-0, 6-0 result against the unheralded Danka Kovinic, there is no reason to believe she cannot lift her first Australian Open title.
The 44-minute double bagel was the first time an Australian has not dropped a game at Melbourne Park, and doubled as a truly mean lesson from one of the game’s nicest players.
The 24-year-old has grown into her fame, swiping this way and that with the relaxed demeanour of a veteran. The outing was indisputably immaculate, and the result of a favourable preparation. Having outstayed the pandemic at home, she avoided the hotel quarantine endured by so many big names.
But substituting match play with practice does not always work out so well, even for champions. Indeed, the last tournament Barty played before she beat Garbiñe Muguruza to the Yarra Valley Classic on Sunday came in Qatar in February 2020. Twelve months later, on Rod Laver Arena, she was not only on par with her form before that break, but surpassed it.
Her backhand slice was nastier, her serve on average 9km faster than at last year’s tournament, where she reached the semi-final.
Her shot selection moved Kovinic not only laterally but also forward and back, forcing the Montenegro-born world No 88 to dip fruitlessly in and out of the net in a bid to eke something out of what was surely a nightmare draw for a player unaccustomed to the bright lights of centre court.
Four games down after 11 minutes and having won none of the 16 points to date, Kovinic appeared overwhelmed. As if by design, she won her first in the 17th. More accurately, Barty lost one, sending a backhand long. Still, that seemed to settle her challenger and she claimed a few more thereafter and showed mettle in a 27-shot rally and some nice ground strokes, including a killer down-the-line backhand midway through the second set.
By the time Kovinic had lost the first stanza 6-0 her stats card read 14 unforced errors to Barty’s two. By the end of the second it had climbed to 28-5. Barty dropped only four points in the first, another six in the second.
And so, the quest to become the first local woman to win the Australian Open in 43 years is under way. The next stop is countrywoman Daria Gavrilova, who beat Spaniard Sara Sorribes Tormo in straight sets.
Understated as always, Barty sealed her win with a clap of her racket and salute to the small crowd.
“I missed tennis every single day,” Barty said afterwards. “The competitor in me missed what this is all about, missed the last hour before you come out on court. The bonus particularly for us players in the next few weeks is we’ve got crowds, we’ve got people to enjoy it with us and that’s really, really special.”
