Ash Barty finding her fire in the heat of Australian Open

Ash Barty is sharpening her game while working through the Australian Open draw.

Ash Barty was able to hold her serve during the tight second set Picture: AAP

Ash Barty is sharpening her game while working her way through the Australian Open draw.

The world No 1 was a solid 6-1 6-4 winner over Polona Hercog on Wednesday and, when the Slovenian lifted her game in the second set, Barty saw off the concerted challenge with poise.

The Roland Garros champion was tested on serve on three occasions as she tried to close out the victory, but held her nerve against a rival who improved the longer the match went on.

“I think you feel more comfortable every day,” Barty said.

“Every time you’re able to win a match you have another opportunity to try and be that little bit better, to try to be that little bit more sharp and clean.

“I felt like I started a lot better today and then the second set, as well, (I) was able to get out of some sticky service games towards the end of the set there.”

Barty now faces a danger game on Friday as she seeks to make the last 16 at Melbourne Park following her quarter-final appearance last year. Her next opponent, Elena Rybakina, claimed the Hobart International last weekend and is enjoying a career-best run at major level in Melbourne.

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The 20-year-old has lost only one match this year, which was in the final of a tournament in Shenzhen. The Kazakh right-hander has now won 32 of her past 41 matches on the circuit and is on the verge of breaking into the top 20.

“I think, for me, it’s about doing what I do best regardless of whether it’s a first round, third round or a final,” Barty said.

“It doesn’t really matter for me what round it is. I’m still going out there trying to do the same thing, essentially.”

Before Barty faces the threat posed by Rybakina, she will step out in a doubles match with new partner Julia Goerges .

The Queenslander has been a star of the doubles circuit since her debut in 2012 alongside Casey Dellacqua, who interviewed her on court after her win over Hercog.

After reaching four grand slam doubles finals with Dellacqua, Barty claimed the US Open in 2018 with CoCo Vandeweghe before reaching the final in New York with Victoria Azarenka last year.

She defeated Goerges, who was a Wimbledon semi-finalist in 2018, to clinch the world’s top ranking for the first time last year and is looking forward to the new combination.

Their first match will be against Western Australians Jess Moore and Astra Sharma on Melbourne Arena on Thursday.

“I think for now I’m not really going to focus on it or stress about it,” Barty said.

“I’m looking forward to playing doubles, I think, in-between. Once we know who the opponent is, (we’ll) kind of start working out what we want to try and do and how we want to execute.”

But, as expectations continue to grow in Barty’s bid to break Australia’s 42-year Open title drought, the world No 1 played down the significance of winning the season-opening slam.

“Oh, look, tennis is a game. Honestly, there are so many bigger things going on in Australia right now,” she said.

“I don’t think anyone could care less if an Aussie wins it or not. First and foremost it’s about the safety and the wellbeing of Aussies all across the nation, of wildlife, everything. It’s unfortunate. It’s been going on for a couple of months. So I’d prioritise the safety and rebuilding parts of our nation that have been destroyed over a tennis match any day of the week.”

On Wednesday the 23-year-old’s primary focus in her first meeting against Hercog was her return. Based on a WTA Tour analysis, the Australian had the third-best return on tour in her stunning 2019.

The Slovenian is a powerful athlete but Barty was able to make a high percentage of her returns in the match, similarly to her opening victory over Lesia Tsurenko.

She did not miss a single forehand return in the second set and only eight of 48 overall when breaking Hercog’s serve three times for the match.

“I think (with) each match we kind of debrief and look at it a bit differently,” Barty said.

“I think today was a big emphasis on my return games, to try and generate a few opportunities. Because Polona has the ability to serve you off court (so) it was important to try and make a lot of returns. On the other side of that (it was important to) look after my own service games. Playing those big points well was really important today.”

Additional reporting: AAP