Ashleigh Barty strolled serenely into the second round of the Nature Valley Classic in Birmingham with a comfortable 6-3 6-4 win over Donna Vekic.
One would expect the Australian, 23, to be on the crest of a wave after she won her first Grand Slam title at the French Open 11 days ago. However, she insists nothing has changed.
“I’m not really sure what it is meant to feel like,” Barty said with a smile. “I don’t feel any different. I’m still the same Ash Barty I was three weeks’ ago.”
She continued, “(After Roland Garros) we just had a couple of quiet days, played a bit of golf at The Belfry and then came here. It’s been an amazing month for me with the amount of support and love I have received from all around the globe, but in a sense it’s still been pretty normal as well.”
Barty avoids potential banana skin
First-time Grand Slam champions frequently suffer an unexpected loss soon after their big success. In 2016, Angelique Kerber lost to Zheng Saisai in the first round of Doha shortly after she won the Australian Open. In 2017, Sloane Stephens lost to Wang Qiang in her next match after her US Open triumph. And in 2018, Simona Halep was knocked out of Wimbledon in the third round by Su-Wei Hsieh in her next tournament after she won the French Open.
However, there were no signs that Barty would suffer a similar fate today, even though she was playing a difficult opponent in Vekic. All parts of her game looked in good working order and – aside from one or two blips – she controlled the match impressively throughout.
“If anything, (winning the French Open has) taken the pressure off,” the Australian said. “(Every match now) is an opportunity to try and be better and really go out there and have fun.”
She continued, “(Today I was pleased with) how clean I was in all aspects. I thought I served well when I needed to. And I did well to get in on Donna’s service games. There were times where she made a lot of first serves in a row and I was able to dig in and scrap my way into some points.”
“I also felt like I was pretty clean off the ground. It was just a perfect match for me to dip my toes back in on grass and get used to it again.”
Barty’s opponent in round two will be Jennifer Brady, after the American beat Lesia Tsurenko 6-3 6-3.