Out-of-sorts Ash Barty stunned in her opening match at the Brisbane International
Forced to hit cricket balls while she waited for the men’s ATP Cup tie to finish, Ash Barty played a straight bat when asked if the centre court delay played any part in her upset loss at the Brisbane International.
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World number one Ashleigh Barty spent her downtime hitting cricket balls while waiting to finally get on centre court at the Brisbane International on Thursday.
She was still playing the straight bat with reporters after crashing to a shock 6-4 7-6 (4) loss to American qualifier Jennifer Brady.
With the main Pat Rafter Arena the exclusive domain of the men’s ATP Cup for the first three days of the women’s event, Barty and world number two and defending champion Karolina Pliskova were kept on ice until the men left town.
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It led to complaints and claims of gender bias from Grand Slam winners Martina Sharapova, Samantha Stosur and Sloane Stephens, but Barty refused to be drawn into the debate when questioned after being bundled out of her home tournament.
Asked if she might have been rusty after sitting on the sidelines apart from two doubles matches on an outer court, she was dismissive.
“Not really, no,” she said. “It’s normal in a tournament that the second round is split over two days, so it’s nothing unusual.
“Obviously it was beautiful to play out there on Pat Rafter Arena. It’s one of my favourite courts in the world.
“We were prepared and had everything ready. We just didn’t get the result today.”
To be fair to Brady, it probably wouldn’t have mattered where or when the match was played, so well did the world number 53 perform.
Her serve was impeccable, forcing Barty to play from behind the baseline and all but negating her volley. Unable to control proceedings from the centre of the court, Barty made an uncharacteristic 26 unforced errors.
Crucially, there was only one break of service in the entire match, when Brady converted a fourth break-point to go to 4-3 before taking the first set.
The large crowd of close to the arena’s 5500 capacity did their best to lift the hometown star with calls of “C’mon Ash” and the ubiquitous, “Aussie, Aussie, Aussie, Oi, Oi, Oi”, but it was to no avail.
Barty couldn’t get into her rhythm – or more to the point, Brady wouldn’t let her get into it.
Half an hour after her first-ever win over a top-10 ranked player Brady was still in a daze.
“I don’t know if it is soaked in yet,” she said. “The previous two times I played Ash last year she got the best of me pretty convincingly.
“Today I just tried to be as aggressive as possible and start every point fresh. I really don’t really know what else to say. Sorry.”
The loss of the tournament’s number one drawcard in her first singles match is a bitter blow to the organisers and the many fans who bought tickets for later in the week with the hope of cheering on the Brisbane girl.
But Barty said her disappointment at losing was no greater in her hometown than it would be anywhere else.
“Of course I would love to go further but from my point of view there’s no more expectation from however many thousand people were out there than to when I play anywhere else around the world.
“I’m just trying to play my best because I know that they have come to see quality tennis regardless of who is on the court.
“They have taken the time out of their day to come and watch some quality tennis and I know that Jen and I played a quality match, regardless of the result.
“I think (any pressure about being in Brisbane) has all come you from you guys (in the media) if I’m being completely honest.
“It doesn’t change the way that I practice. It doesn’t change the way that my team and I prepare. It doesn’t change me as a person. I think that you guys enjoy the fact that you get something to write about and you have something to talk about.
“Hopefully I make it interesting for you, but I don’t look at it beyond that.”
And what of her thoughts on speculation that the Brisbane International might be replaced by a WTA version of the ATP Cup?
“I’ll think about it if and when the time comes,” she said, hitting it straight back down the pitch.
Originally published as Out-of-sorts Ash Barty stunned in her opening match at the Brisbane International