Australian Open report card: Did our local players make the most of their chances?

Many believe Ash Barty blew a golden opportunity at the Aus Open. Locked out of her home state, she will get straight back to work — in Adelaide.

Ash Barty’s Australian Open ended in the quarterfinals. Picture: Michael Klein

Ash Barty is going straight back to work following her Australian Open disappointment and will play in next week’s Adelaide International.

The late decision to play in South Australia has also been influenced by the fact she can’t get home to Brisbane.

Barty is locked out of her home state given she would have to do 14 days hotel quarantine in Queensland because she’s been in Victorian “hot spots” over the past month.

It’s understood Queensland Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk, who is a big fan of Barty’s, will review the restrictions next week,

The world No. 1 has enjoyed a few quiet beers with friends including Australian Open wheelchair champion Dylan Alcott and fellow Aussie legend Pat Rafter following her surprise quarter-final loss to Karolina Muchova on Wednesday.

Watch over 40 live ATP Tour tournaments, 40 live WTA Tour tournaments, and every ATP + WTA Finals match live with beIN SPORTS on Kayo. New to Kayo? Get your 14-day free trial & start streaming instantly >

Ash Barty’s Australian Open came to an early end. Picture: Michael Klein

She posted a message on Instagram along with a photo of her on Rod Laver Arena walking across the Melbourne sign: “Everything happens for a reason … Disappointed but we learn and we go back to work!

“I love being an Aussie. I love the Aussie Summer”.

Barty will take on a star-studded field in the WTA event in Adelaide with fellow grand slam winners Bianca Andreescu and Iga Swiatek also in the field.

Other top 20 players competing include Belinda Bencic, Johanna Konta, Petra Martic, Elena Rybakina and Elise Mertens.

Barty, 24, won the event last year when it was played as a lead-up to the Australian Open.

In March she will head overseas for the Middle East Swing in Doha and Dubai before flying to Miami to defend her title there which she won in 2019.

It’s an important time for the Australian as her No. 1 world ranking will no longer include the protected points from her brilliant 2019 season.

Barty, who has held the honour for 56 weeks, will retain the mantle even if No. 3 seed Naomi Osaka wins the Australian Open.

She is planning an extended stay overseas with a possible base in Europe as she returns to the WTA Tour full time after almost 12 months at home.

“It’s a tricky one because I think the health of my team and myself will always be the priority, no matter what,” she said.

“In a way, there is no nervousness because I feel like we’ll make the right decisions that are the best for us. We’ll make the right decisions for the right reasons.”

Ash Barty’s Australian Open dream came to an unexpected end. Picture: Michael Klein

There will be no shortage of motivation for Barty who many believe blew a golden opportunity to break the local hoodoo at the Australian Open.

The 2019 French Open champion led 6-1 2-0 against Muchova until a medical time-out by the Czech changed the complexion of the match.

Barty completely lost her way with her long lay-off before the tournament, clearly a factor but her inability to regain composure was a major concern.

She would have started an overwhelming favourite should she’d got through to a semi-final against her doubles partner American 22nd-seed Jennifer Brady.

Instead the monkey on the back for Aussie stars in Melbourne remains given the last homegrown female talent to salute was Chris O’Neil in 1978.

And it’s an even sorrier tale on the men’s side with Mark Edmonson the last local winner in 1976.

JOE BARTON REVIEWS THE AUSTRALIANS

The men’s and women’s finals are decided – and for the 16th straight year there’s not an Australian to be seen.

Ever since Lleyton Hewitt lost to Marat Safin in the 2005 final, Australia has been crying out for a local hope to go deep – meaning expectations at the start of the year are always sky-high.

But this year they felt even further raised: Ashleigh Barty was entering as the world No. 1, while local players – largely – avoided the two-week quarantines imposed on those entering the country.

Across the men’s and women’s draws, thanks to a larger than usual number of local wildcards, Australia had 23 main draw singles entrants.

But only one, Barty, reached the second week. Here’s how they fared.

Thanasi Kokkinakis enjoyed a brilliant Open campaign. Picture: Getty Images

SUCCESS STORIES

It might feel like a missed opportunity for Ashleigh Barty, given the top seed’s comfortable draw and high-level of play throughout the tournament.

But the 24-year-old became the first home product in 47 years to reach three consecutive quarter-finals at the Australian Open – no mean feat. And for someone who took the bulk of 2020 off due to COVID-19 concerns, Barty looked like she had the Daphne Akhurst Memorial Cup within her grasp … right up until she didn’t.

Thanasi Kokkinakis made the second round at Melbourne Park for the first time since 2015 – and then pushed world No. 6 Stefanos Tsitsipas all the way in an epic five-set encounter. Fit and firing, Kokkinakis can soar up the rankings this year, and he proved that this fortnight. Simply being healthy again makes this tournament a success for Kokkinakis.

Likewise Chris O’Connell who snaffled a $150,000 payday and his first top-50 win when he upset world No. 37 Jan-Lennard Struff in the first round, three years after being ranked outside the top 1000.

Alexi Popyrin also pulled off a stunning first-round upset, toppling 13th seed David Goffin.

And wheelchair star Dylan Alcott taking home a seventh Australian Open title – and 12th grand slam – is a superb achievement that deserved to be celebrated in front of fans.

Dylan Alcott picked up yet another Australian Open title. Picture: Getty Images

PASS MARK

No one really knew what to expect from Nick Kyrgios after he, too, skipped overseas tournaments to spend 2020 on home soil. On paper, a third round exit may be disappointing for someone of Kyrgios’ talent – but scratch the surface and you get a sense of what he brought to Melbourne Park.

His five-set war with Dominic Thiem was one of the matches of the tournament, and he lit up John Cain Arena three times in week one. Alex de Minaur was devastated to miss last year’s Open through injury, and looked equally shattered following a third-round defeat to 16th seed Fabio Fognini such is his competitive nature. He did well to not just overcome but thrash two-time quarter-finalist Tennys Sandgren in his first round match.

Daria Gavrilova and Ajla Tomljanovic hit major roadblocks in the second round, in the form of top seed Barty and No. 2 Simona Halep, but both walked away with their heads held high. Tomljanovic in particular was unlucky not to book a third-round spot, with Halep forced to call on all her championship qualities to see off the Australian.

Bernard Tomic remains an enigma, but after surviving the gruelling Doha qualifying rounds, Tomic also reached the second round before being taught a lesson by 11th seed Denis Shapovalov. Has work to do to win back the public support, but there’s hope. Alex Bolt was another to enjoy a first-round win and a second-round humbling.

Nick Kyrgios was at his entertaining best throughout the Open. Picture: Getty Images

HARD LUCK TALES

First-round exits for John Millman and Jordan Thompson were disappointing for contrasting reasons, with a neck injury forcing Thompson to pull the pin on his first-round loss while Millman was a frustrated man after going down in five-sets to feisty Frenchman Corentin Moutet.

MAYBE NEXT YEAR

Samantha Stosur refused to let there be a passing of the torch to young star Destinee Aiava, and secured her first Australian Open second round match in six years but could go no further.

And the likes of Li Tu and Aleksander Vukic were terrific tales in the lead-up and gave good accounts of themselves against more experienced first-round opponents, but ultimately fell short.