Australian tennis world no 1 Ash Barty getting ready for the Adelaide International tennis tournament at Memorial Drive
Cuddling koalas, tasting top local wines and climbing the roof of Adelaide Oval – world sporting stars are getting a good appreciation for South Australia as the inaugural Adelaide International heats up at Memorial Drive.
Confidential
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The last time Ash Barty was in Adelaide, she was swinging a cricket bat instead of a tennis racquet.
Now the women’s world no. 1 is ready to kickstart her summer of tennis at the inaugural Adelaide International at Memorial Drive.
“The last time I was here it was a WBBL game so it’s been a long time between drinks,” said Barty, who also played with Brisbane Heat in the women’s Big Bash League in 2015/16.
“I had a quick peek (at centre court) this morning, it’s all new to me but it looks great... it really shows that people and players from all over the world will come to these great events.
“I can’t wait to get stuck into it.”
The reigning French Open champion, Barty, 23, will begin her Adelaide campaign against Russian Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova on Tuesday.
On Monday, she caught up with Australia’s top-ranked female golfer, Minjee Lee, ahead of next month’s ISPS HANDA Women’s Australian Open at Royal Adelaide.
It’s part of a bumper summer of women’s sport in SA, which also includes the women’s Santos Tour Down Under, AFLW, WBBL, W-League soccer and netball.
“She’s (Lee) got a big season coming up. I played a round with Karrie Webb... the other day and we were chatting about her quite a bit,” said Barty, whose boyfriend is golfer Garry Kissick.
“I’m looking forward to watching her throughout the year,” Barty said.
Three of the world’s top eight female players – Barty, Simona Halep and Belinda Bencic – are part of the world-class women’s field at the Adelaide International.
But the tournament suffered a big blow on Monday with men’s top seed and leading Australian Alex de Minaur pulling out with an abdominal injury.
The news came just 48 hours after world no. 2 Novak Djokovic announced he was skipping the event to focus on his defence of the Australian Open.
The international players who are in Adelaide have been making the most of their time in SA. Croatian star Donna Vekic was joined by fellow players Maria Sakkari, Anett Kontaveit, Taylor Fritz and Reilly Opelka for a visit to Cleland Wildlife Park.
“It’s so hard to see what’s happening to this country right now, so being able to spend time with these animals today felt so special,” Vekic said.
“The wildlife in Australia is such an integral part of its culture.”
Over the weekend, Vekic, German world no. 18 Angelique Kerber and American Sloane Stephens enjoyed a tour of Penfolds Magill Estate, while Russian star Pavlyuchenkova warmed up for her battle against Barty by tackling the Adelaide Oval RoofClimb.
“It was so stressful I still feel my guts,” she said.
Sam Querrey, Jamie Murray and Félix Auger Aliassime also took part in a courtside cooking demonstration with celebrity chef Simon Bryant at the opening night Rally for Resilience event.