World number one Ash Barty claims Adelaide International with commanding win over Dayana Yastremka

Ash Barty made a slow start to her summer campaign but she has bounced back from a first-round loss in Brisbane to play some of her best tennis in an ideal tune-up for the Australian Open.

ADELAIDE, AUSTRALIA - JANUARY 16: Ash Barty of Australia icelebrates her win over Marketa Vondrousova of the Czech Republic during day five of the 2020 Adelaide International at Memorial Drive on January 16, 2020 in Adelaide, Australia. (Photo by Mark Brake/Getty Images)

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The Barty Party will roll into Melbourne with another title in tow as Australia’s golden girl took out the inaugural Adelaide International.

As if the packed crowd at Memorial Drive didn’t need another reason to cheer World No. 1 Ash Barty, she walked out for the final against rising Ukrainian star Dayana Yastremska to Alive by Adelaide’s own Sia.

After the first round exit in Brisbane prompted concerns about Barty’s conditioning, she told the crowd after the match she believed she played some of her best tennis in the dominant first set.

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Ashleigh Barty picked up a timely boost ahead of her Australian Open campaign.

“Yeah, absolutely (that she was playing her best) I thought it was a great tussle, it’s a final you have to bring your best and I was able to do and get across the line,” she said.

“We had our pre-season, we did all the work and it was about coming here this week and enjoying the competition.

“It’s good for us to get the ball rolling (for 2020) and I can’t wait for Melbourne.”

Australia will be now thinking the chances of Barty becoming the first homegrown female to triumph at the Australian Open since Chris O’Neil in 1978 have a pulse as she outclassed the 19-year-old and ended a slam preparation that started slow with a tournament victory.

Four years and two days since Barty scored just three off four balls batting at No. 6 for the Brisbane Heat in what was her last game in the WBBL, just metres away from the Memorial Drive Centre Court at Adelaide Oval No. 2, she showed why she is world No. 1 as she dispatched the rising star 6-2 7-5.

Ash Barty has won the Adelaide International. Picture: Mark Brake/Getty Images.

After an early round exit in Brisbane, Barty’s Adelaide International to date had been a curious one.

She won ugly and was on the brink of bowing out at the semi-final stage to Danielle Collins in a match she had to draw on all her talent and fighting spirit to come back from one set down to triumph.

But against a player in her first WTA Premier final, Barty was on the ball from just about the beginning.

Please excuse the poor view but this is the moment Ash Barty won the first ever @AdelaideTennis @TheTiserSport pic.twitter.com/aDxKORlRfn

— Simeon Thomas-Wilson (@Simeon_TW) January 18, 2020

Yastremska had recorded the big scalps of Angelique Kerber and Aryna Sabalenka on the way to the final, her first tournament under highly respected coach Sascha Bajin.

In fact when asked about her meteoric rise to the world’s top 25 as such a young age, Yastremska said it wasn’t at all about who was on the other side of the net.

“I play with the ball, not with the opponent,” she said.

Ash Barty won by beating Dayana Yastremka 6-2, 7.5 Picture: Mark Brake/Getty Images.

But it is a different thing when that player on the other side of the net is Barty.

After her aggressive approach paid off in spades against Sabalenka, Barty’s slice backhand and shot variation proved a lot more difficult for Yastremska to overcome.

It didn’t help the Ukrainian that she missed shots she would have easily made in previous rounds, such as an easy swinging forehand volley to give Barty a break in the third game of the first set or a regulation forehand to give the Australian a 5-2 lead.

When Barty broke Yastremska in the first game of the second it looked like she would run away with the match in a canter but the Ukrainian found her mojo and broke the World No. 1 to even the ledger.

Yastremska had two opportunities to break Barty in the eighth game, but the Australian saved both of them.

Originally published as World number one Ash Barty claims Adelaide International with commanding win over Dayana Yastremka