Ash Barty continues clay surge as other Aussie players look for vaccine

World No 1 Ash Barty expressed her fortune at being vaccinated in America earlier this month but others are still waiting as the clock ticks towards Tokyo’s Olympics.

John Millman, pictured warming up in Munich in an event played without fans this week, is into the quarter-finals of the event in Germany. Picture: AFP.

Having vowed to play carefree and without consequence, Ash Barty has produced a dominant opening round win in Madrid to extend her unbeaten stint on red clay to twelve dating back to the 2019 French Open.

The Australian claimed a fourth win in as many outings this year over Shelby Rogers, but her 6-2 6-1 triumph was by far her easiest against the American to date after previous victories in Melbourne and South Carolina.

Winning 57 of the 86 points played, Barty looked even sharper in Madrid than she did when claiming a double in Stuttgart last week, where the Australian overcame deficits in three straight triumphs over top 10 rivals.

The prospect of a tantalising third round clash against Iga Swiatek remains on target in what would be the first meeting between the past two French Open champions.

Barty played with strapping to her shoulder — she attributed this to wear-and-tear and quipped she needed some “WD-40” to get the old body moving.

Mask game strong 🐵🐵💛@ashbarty | #MMOPENpic.twitter.com/zJhSJ7fEvi

— wta (@WTA) April 29, 2021

After a busy week in Germany, world No 1 is not playing doubles in Madrid and does not face Tamara Zidansek until the weekend.

Her success on returning to the tour has eased any concerns Barty, who has won three of the six tournaments she has played in 2021, might have had about being able to mix it with the best after a sabbatical of almost a year.

But another factor that eased the mind of the 25-year-old was the ability of both herself and coach Craig Tyzzer to get vaccinated in America earlier this month.

“I think with the way that the vaccines were working in South Carolina, it was nice to know we were able to get it without jumping the queue, which was really important to me as well,” she told The Weekend Australian.

“We wanted to make sure that those most vulnerable were able to get the vaccine first, if it was their choosing, so for Tyzz and us, it was great for us to both get it.

“Knowing we are going to be travelling around, it was something I obviously wanted to try and get. We weren’t going to be able to do that in Australia.

“It was nice we were able to do that over here and now we can try and plan the rest of our season, much like we would, but nice knowing we have that extra bit of protection.”

Australian Olympics Chef de Mission Ian Chesterman provided some relief for athletes when saying they would be vaccinated for COVID-19 before heading to Tokyo for the games in July.

But that does not help the Australian tennis players who are Olympics bound given most have been overseas since the start of March.

As an agent told The Weekend Australian, there was frustration when advice was issued last month stating players would be required to return home — and serve the quarantine window — in order to be vaccinated.

This effectively required players to choose between representing Australia in the Olympics or skipping either the French Open or Wimbledon.

A two-week quarantine period would also hinder form and fitness midway through a particularly busy period in the touring schedule after a year where players were not able to compete.

Australia’s second ranked man John Millman, who is into the quarter-finals of a tournament in Munich, recently said he had no certainty as to when he would be vaccinated.

“Obviously it is a little trickier being away,” he said.

“I don’t think we should get any type of exemption, however, to be able to go home and get vaccinated without the quarantine.

“So I guess it will be up to the AOC or Tennis Australia to guide us on getting the vaccinations overseas.”

A spike in coronavirus cases forced Roland Garros officials to delay the French Open by a week, which in turn has reduced the length of the grass court season.

Wimbledon announced plans this week to have a minimum 25 per cent capacity in attendance in 2021 after last year’s championships were cancelled.

It is not yet certain what the crowd restrictions will be for Roland Garros. From May 19, which is a week before qualifying, up to 1,000 people will be allowed to gather outside in Paris based on current advice.