Ash Barty cheers on Australia at Lord’s as Chris Evert fears the Aussie could succumb to fatigue
Will Ash Barty will fall victim to her own success? That’s the fear of one tennis legend. But as she cheered Australia on at Lord’s, the Aussie champion looked in fine form.
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American great Chris Evert is concerned Ashleigh Barty will fall victim to her own success, fearing the Australian could succumb to fatigue after a month of high achievement.
“It would be like a herculean effort if she won Wimbledon, to have won the French, to have won Birmingham,” Evert, an analyst for ESPN, said.
“Then when she won that, she became No.1.
“At some point it’s got to be overwhelming, and she’s a human being.
“I mean, it would be so impressive if she won Wimbledon.
“She has the game. She has the athleticism, the variety.
“I just kind of wonder when the tank is going to start to get a little bit empty, both physically and emotionally.
“So it’s going to be tough.”
Barty, 23, is recovering this week after capping a 12-match winning streak at Birmingham and landing the world No 1 ranking – and the trophy named after Evert.
The Queenslander spent Tuesday at Lord’s watching Australia defeat England in the World Cup.
Nursing slight right arm soreness, Barty is scheduled to resume practice on Thursday.
Evert, a triple Wimbledon winner and former world No 1, believes Barty’s grasscourt expertise will carry her a long way, provided she is not exhausted.
“You know what, she’s got a great grass court game,” she said.
“I think she loves the grass.
“I think it’s interesting that her parents (Robert and Josie) were scheduled to come over for the grass court season, not for the clay court season.
“Look what happened.”
Barty is confident the arm soreness won’t derail ambitions to become the first player since Serena Williams to land the ‘Channel Slam’ ahead of Wimbledon.
“I’ve had it (arm issues) since I was 16,” Barty said.
“The next couple of days are be very quiet for me, to be honest.
“I’m not going to be on court probably until at least Thursday.
“It’s management, a week that we’re used to, having to monitor how we hit.
“Everything is quite normal.”
Barty followed the same path before her French Open breakthrough, triumphing at Roland Garros after withdrawing from Strasbourg.
The Queenslander is certain she has enough matches under belt after spearing to the Birmingham title without dropping a set.
“I’ve had the perfect preparation (for Wimbledon),” she said.
“I would have loved to have played here in Eastbourne and had a few more matches just to refine everything.
“But, look, we’re in an awesome position.
“We’re feeling really good and now it’s just about preparing as best we can for that first round.”
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