Ash Barty joins an exclusive club with victory in Miami Open final

Ash Barty has joined a rare group of champions with a successful and authoritative defence of the Miami Open.

Ash Barty poses with the Miami Open trophy after defeating Bianca Andreescu

Ash Barty has joined a rare legion of champions with a successful and authoritative defence of the Miami Open on Sunday.

Playing in her first tournament outside Australia since last February, Barty saved a match point in her first outing following a 50-hour transit to Florida from Brisbane.

But she soon found her groove on the slow hard courts and in the final her 6-3 4-0 defeat of Bianca Andreescu, who retired with an injured foot, capped an outstanding fortnight.

The 24-year-old was in control of the decider against Andreescu when the 2019 US Open champion rolled her foot while pushing wide for a forehand in the second set.

“I really do feel for Bianca. I think she’s had such a rough trot with injuries in the past,” Barty said.

Barty joins Steffi Graf, Monica Seles, Aranxta Sanchez-Vicario and Venus and Serena Williams as the only women to defend a Miami Open title, with the only caveat being that the tournament was not played last year due to the pandemic.

“I feel like I haven’t earned the right to be in a list of names with those champions. They are genuine champions of our sport, legends of our sport,” she said.

“I feel very privileged to be mentioned in that sentence, and it’s very cool and something I was unaware of.

“I think it’s extremely humbling to be mentioned in the same sentence as those champions, but I feel like I’ve got a long, long way to go yet before I can be in discussion with those names.”

Adding further lustre to the quality of Barty’s triumph is the depth of the 2021 Miami Open field, with Serena Williams the only top 10 player absent.

Bianca Andreescu of Canada returns a shot. Picture: AFP

The Queenslander defeated three top 10 players on the way to the title in Miami two years ago, which was considered the major breakthrough of her career to that stage.

She broke into the top ten for the first time when defeating Karolina Pliskova in the final.

A couple of months later she claimed the French Open title and then the world’s top ranking for the first time when successful in Birmingham in June, 2019.

After a testing end to a summer that started with a tournament win in Melbourne, Barty was on the verge of a third straight loss in her opening match in Miami against Karolina Kucova.

But she thumped a forehand winner when facing a match point in the third set and performed brilliantly from that point onward.

She defeated fellow major winners Jelena Ostapenko and Victoria Azarenka in her next two matches, before knocking off top 10 ranked rivals Aryna Sabalenka and Elina Svitolina to reach the final.

Barty was the dominant player and was clearly on top when the Canadian unfortunately injured her foot.

Her clash with Andreescu, the world No 9, was highly anticipated given it was the first meeting of two grand slam winners who boast tremendous variety in their games.

The Australian started well, claiming the first three games, only for her rival to rally.

But from midway through the opening set, Barty was the dominant player and was clearly on top when the Canadian unfortunately injured her foot when falling after a forehand.

“Ash is a great player. I’m a decent player also,” Andreescu said.

“If we stay healthy we’ll have a lot of matches in the future. She’s challenging me.

“I want to look ahead of my career. I’m only 20. I’m proud of myself because I’m resilient. For me, doing that today, took a lot. I think it was the best decision.”

The tournament also saw Barty fend off a challenge to her world No 1 ranking from Australian Open champion Naomi Osaka, who was knocked out in the quarter-finals.

“I felt like with each match I have been playing better and better, which is ultimately what we are after,” Barty said.

“To be able to have the title at the end is a bonus, and to be able to defend my title the first time in my career I’ve been able to do that is really, really special too.”