Ash, you are an inspiration

Today The Chronicle sport team offer their view on rising Aussie tennis star Ash Barty’s hyped-up 2020 Australian Open campaign.

Ash Barty managed to carry the expections of an adoring Australian public through to the semi-finals of the 2020 Australian Open. Picture: Mark Stewart

JASON GIBBS: It’s a missed opportunity there is no doubt about that.

The top seeds were dropping like flies and Barty was looking red hot - especially after her win over Petra Kvitova in the quarter-final.

It’s important we put things in perspective though, because while her semi-final loss is disappointing it is by no means a “failure”.

Go back 12 months to the very same tournament and it was Barty who was looking out of place in a quarter-final loss to funnily enough Kvitova.

Since then she has gone on to claim the French Open, was crowned WTA Finals champion and is the current world number one.

A lot has changed in the past year and Barty deserves praise for her achievements - not a kick in the pants because she lost a semi-final.

I have no doubt we will see Barty in another grand slam final - ideally the Australian Open - this is just a small bump in the road.

SEAN TEUMA: If you asked me at the start of the tournament if I thought a semi-final birth would’ve been a success, I would’ve said yes.

Now though, with all the top seeds that dropped out across the fortnight and with the path she had to get to the semis, you can’t help but feel a little deflated at how it all ended.

Her win against Kvitova on Tuesday was breathtaking. She looked like a stone cold killer and that nobody was going to get near here.

Fast forward to Thursday and it appeared that same intensity just wasn’t there.

There’s no doubt that she was determined to get there, she played a good game,

But it just seemed that she didn’t have that edge to take opportunities or a response when tested.

A few break points throughout the sixth game of the first set could’ve changed the whole complexion of the game, but it wasn’t to be.

She’s played some great tennis in front of her home fans and should be proud of where she got to.

I just hope this isn’t the golden opportunity that got away for Barty and a home slam.

GLEN McCULLOUGH: The girl is an absolute star, and I’m not talking just about her ability to hit a ball over a net.

In a nation where anger, criticising, complaining and negativity are now a fashion, Ash shines like a beacon.

Her old-school Australian manner and approach to tennis and life is an inspiration and I’m sure a contributor to her growing success.

I remember watching Ash up against my favourite player Petra Kvitova (I could watch that graceful forehand all day long) at last year’s Aussie Open.

I admired the level of tennis she played, thinking to myself how impressively she had fought back from a down time when she quit the sport and turned her attention to cricket.

That break in hindsight proved a Godsend for Ash.

But at the same time I thought to myself as well as she played she would never rise to the heights of regularly beating players like Petra on the world tour.

How wrong I was.

Ash has now beaten Petra on the last four or five occasions they have met since the Czech comfortably put her away in their 2019 Aussie Open quarter-final meeting.

There is no saying how far she can go with all the necessary ingredients she possesses.