Ashleigh Barty after 1r win at US Open 2021: "Adapting to conditions was a little bit slower than I probably would have liked"
Ashleigh Barty booked her second-round berth at the US Open 2021 with a 6-1,7-6(7) win over 2010 runner-up Vera Zvonareva on Tuesday. But as the scoreline shows, the two sets were completely different.
Barty blasted 11 aces in the match, seven of which came in a one-sided first set. The second set was far more competitive though, and things were further complicated by a Hawkeye malfunction which resulted in a brief pause.
Upon the resumption of play, with Barty looking to serve out the match at 5-4, Zvonareva broke back. Barty then had to save a set point in the tiebreaker before finally sealing the win in 1 hour 28 minutes.
The Aussie is playing in New York after two years, and during her post-match press conference she admitted that it took her longer to adjust to the conditions.
"Yeah, obviously a tough one against Vera straight up," Barty said. "She's an experienced campaigner. She knows how to get herself into matches. I think all in all, adapting to conditions was a little bit slower than I probably would have liked."
Delving into the details of how the match transpired, Barty conceded that she played a couple of poor service games in the second set. But the top seed went on to claim she was pleased with the way she trusted her instincts in the high-pressure situations.
"I think in the first set I served exceptionally well," Barty said. "She was a little bit loose off her racquet and she gave me a few cheapies. And in the second, the 2-1 game serving and 5-4 game serving I just played two poor service games. She was able to take advantage of some second serves and a few cheapies from my end."
"I think all in all being able to work my way around that and kind of get through that in straight sets was really pleasing," Barty added. "I think when my back was against the wall late in that buster, I came up with some really good stuff. That's all we can ask is when your back is against the wall, you trust yourself, you go out there and pick your spots and hit them."
Ashleigh Barty naturally looked a bit peeved when the match came to a halt due to the electronic system malfunction, since it disrupted her momentum. She was even seen having a chat with the umpire during the break.
When quizzed about that, the 2019 French Open winner stated she just wanted to make sure all cameras were working perfectly again.
"One of the cameras went down," Barty explained. "They just needed to adjust that to make sure that all the cameras were still working. Obviously at the moment where we're functioning without linespeople, so I just needed to make sure all cameras were spot on, and just, I think, plug one back in and we were all right to go."
"It's just sometimes you have to get the timing right" - Ashleigh Barty
Ashleigh Barty is one of just three active players to have won their first two Majors on natural surfaces, the others being Simona Halep and Garbine Muguruza. All three of them are strong hardcourt players as well, but are interestingly still waiting for Slam glory on the artificial surface.
Barty attributed that to the timing and the occasion, given that she faces a lot of pressure at her home Slam in Melbourne. The World No. 1 also pointed out that staying focused for two weeks can be a challenge.
"Obviously the occasions can make you feel different," Barty said. "You can't hide behind the fact that for me playing in Australia is different to what Simo or Garbine feel when they play in Australia. When they're playing in Europe it's different to how I feel when I play in Europe. I think all in all we've won titles on hardcourts, we've all won big titles on hardcourts. I don't think there's anything specific to it. It's just sometimes you have to get the timing right. Things have to fall in your place. You have to get a bit of luck."
"Two weeks is a very long time to stay focused, to stay specific to what you want," she added. "And the Grand Slams, where the best quality tennis players come to one event and try and beat each other. I hope for all of us we're not far off. You keep putting yourself in that position time and time again, keep showing up, having a crack, and that's kind of all you can ask."