Ash Barty’s frustrated in second round Madrid Open scare

Ash Barty is into the third round of the Madrid Open but she didn’t have it all her own way, with a rare crack in her calm demeanour.

Ash Barty has survived a three-set scare from World No. 80 Tamara Zidansek in the second round of the Madrid Open.

After a dominant win in her opening match of the tournament against Shelby Rogers on Thursday, Barty was expected to roll on through Zidansek with ease an into the third round but was given a scare by her Slovenian challenger.

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Despite having never beaten a top 10 player and with Barty the biggest scalp in women’s tennis with 70 weeks at world No. 1, Zidansek took it to Barty in the second set.

The first set went to plan with Barty taking it 6-4, but the second set was all the Slovenian as frustration crept into the Aussie’s game.

The first three games went on serve in the second before Zidansek broke twice to win the second set 6-1.

Barty served first in the third set and was struggling, conceding another break point to Zidansek, before bouncing back to hold.

Barty congratulates Zidansek for the game.

But the Aussie once again showed why she won in Stuttgart, where she came from a set down in each of her final three matches against World top 10 opponents, changing the momentum of the game.

It wasn’t all to her liking however, with a rare moment of frustration boiling over as she fumed between games.

While somewhat unclear what she was upset about, when Barty was serving to go up 3-0 in the third, the Aussie was challenged on a net service that was called in but overruled out on a challenge from her opponent.

Barty was clearly frustrated despite winning the point, with the camera picking up her saying to the umpire: “You know the system is as much bulls*** as I do, don’t you.”

Barty just copped it on the chin.

Regardless, Barty ran away with the set to claim the match 6-4 1-6 6-3.

Speaking after the match in her orangutan face mask, Barty said it had been a challenging day at the office.

“It was a very tough match,” Barty said. “I know Tamara has played a lot through qualifying and was very comfortable on clay. It was important for me to serve well and towards the end, I found a little bit more but it was a very tough day.

“I’m enjoying my tennis. I’m enjoying being back out here. And it’s beautiful to play here in Madrid in front of some fans. It’s amazing. I’m very happy to be back.”