Ash Barty begins defence of Miami Open and the world’s top ranking

Ash Barty will play her first match outside of Australia since her success in the WTA Championships in China in 2019.

Ash Barty will begin her Miami Open title defence on Friday morning in her first match outside Australia since 2019 Picture: Michael Klein

Ash Barty’s defence of her number one ranking will begin in Miami on Friday morning in her first match outside of Australia since a triumph in the WTA Championships in 2019.

As tensions on the men’s side of the tour exploded in Florida, the Australian returns to defend the Miami Open she won against Karolina Pliskova in 2019.

The Queenslander holds a slender lead in the rankings over Naomi Osaka, who has been the dominant player on tour in recent months and is capable of surpassing the Australian.

The 24-year-old, who endured a testing 50-hour transit to Florida due to flight cancellations, will play Slovakian Kristina Kucova in a second round clash in a schedule packed with Australians.

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Her match against the world No 151 is scheduled to begin at 6am AEST on Friday.

Barty is the overwhelming favourite against the Slovakian, who has had less than 17 hours to recover from her opening round triumph in three sets against American Hailey Baptiste.

The rankings freeze instituted at the start of the pandemic has ended and Barty is defending 1000 points in Miami compared Osaka’s 65.

The Brisbane resident effectively has a buffer of 361 points on the dual-Australian Open champion.

"I'm so excited to be back here!" 😀@ashbarty talks about why the #MiamiOpen is so special to her. pic.twitter.com/WubStlnoTi

— wta (@WTA) March 25, 2021

Meanwhile, agitation in men’s ranks between a breakaway union and ATP Tour officials erupted in ugly scenes.

Vasek Pospisil, who is the right-hand man of world No 1 Novak Djokovic in the recently formed Professional Tennis Players Association, exploded in an on-court tirade.

The Canadian claimed he had been screamed at for 90 minutes by ATP Tour Chairman Andrea Gaudenzi.

The 30-year-old lacked focus in his 6-3 4-6 6-3 loss to Mackenzie McDonald and erupted in anger late in the first set, which prompted a query from umpire Arnaud Gabas.

“What’s happening today? An hour and a half yesterday, the chair of the ATP f***ing screaming at me in a player meeting for trying to unite the players,” Pospisil replied.

“For an hour and a half. The leader of the ATP. F***. F***ing a***hole.”

Pospisil pic.twitter.com/fq4AjEm38V

— Lee S (@underarm_ace) March 24, 2021

Pospisil subsequently apologised for an outburst he attributed to the stress he felt following the meeting between players and ATP Tour officials.

“I disrespected the game I love and for that I am truly sorry,” he said.

“By way of explanation, I felt deeply unnerved during the meeting between players and ATP executives last night and I underestimated the toll those emotions took on me until I stepped onto the court today. Again, I am sorry for my on-court behaviour and the language I used.”

The PTPA was unveiled on the eve of the US Open last September amid concerns that while the upper echelon of the tour are extremely wealthy, the majority of players are struggling financially.

Pospisil opted against fulfilling media obligations after the loss at a Masters Series event which Djokovic, Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer all decided to skip for differing reasons.

Barty and Federer pocketed $1.77 million when claiming the respective 2019 titles.

But the cancellation of last year’s event combined with crowd restrictions this year have seen the champion’s cheque fall to just under $400,000.

Australians enjoyed a bright opening in Miami. Wildcard entrant Storm Sanders, recent Singapore Open champion Alexei Popyrin and James Duckworth posted first round wins.