Ash Barty overlooked for a centre court slot at Wimbledon
Overlooked by Seven, the world No.1 has been passed over again, this time by event organisers.
World No.1 Ash Barty may be the biggest name in Australian tennis, but her recent deeds are yet to prove enough for her to be granted a match on the most famous court in tennis.
The French Open champion has been overlooked for a centre court slot at Wimbledon tonight, with tournament organisers opting to showcase English talent instead.
The 23-year-old, who faces Belgian Alison van Uytvanck, will instead play on Court 2 in a second round match beginning at 8pm AEST.
It follows a decision by the Seven Network to screen Nick Kyrgios’ clash against Jordan Thompson in preference to Barty’s first match as the new number one.
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That proved controversial, though it is scarcely surprising that Wimbledon organisers have scheduled Kyrgios’ intriguing clash against Rafael Nadal as the third match on centre court.
The Seven Network has another decision to make, with Barty’s match scheduled at the same time as the second round clashes of her compatriots Alex de Minaur and John Millman.
Australia’s top-ranked man de Minaur will play American Steve Johnson on Court 18, a significant outside court, while Millman will play 31st seed Laslo Djere on Court 14.
The four Australians competing today are the sole locals left after Alexei Popyrin and Alja Tomljanovic were beaten overnight.
Popyrin showed significant promise against 11th seed Daniil Medvedev when falling in four sets, while Tomljanovic was no match for Victoria Azarenka.
Barty enjoyed a minimum-fuss preparation for today’s second round encounter when partnering Azarenka, a dual-Australian Open champion, to a doubles win yesterday.
The current and former world No.1 proved far too strong for Western Australian Storm Sanders and Belarusian Lidziya Marozava when winning 6-0 6-1 in 56 minutes.
Earlie Azarenka showed she could be a contender over the next fortnight when trouncing Tomljanovic.
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