World number one Ash Barty has fully recovered in time for the second grand slam of the season.
The Australian had been in doubt for Paris with an arm injury that she suffered in her Rome quarter-final with Coco Gauff.
However Barty revealed in her pre-match press conference that she is feeling good now after some time in the south of France, “Yeah, I’m feeling good. I’m feeling ready to play,” Barty said on Friday afternoon.
“I think it was an important decision for us to make to make sure that we arrived at this tournament being 100% physically. I feel great. I feel like we have been able to practice well, control what we have needed to do over the last kind of ten days or so.
“We were down in the South of France, which was beautiful, weather was great. We were at a very small club down there which for me was perfect. I felt like we were able to do exactly what we wanted on court, we were able to control loads and make sure my body was feeling 100%.
“To be able to just control that week was really important, making sure that we had arrived here feeling great and we have. I feel like I’m ready to play. I’m excited to be back. But I think having that break kind of down south was beautiful in a sense where it was quiet.”
Last time Barty played in Paris was two years ago when she won the title against Marketa Vondrousova in the final.
Despite not being able to defend her title last year, Barty is looking forward to coming back even if her last year feels like a while ago, “I think coming back to the site here at Roland Garros is obviously pretty special, pretty cool to be able to walk onto Chatrier and have so many memories kind of come flooding back,” Barty said.
“A lot of it I also don’t remember and feels like it was such a long time ago. It’s certainly a clean slate for us this week but exciting to be here, exciting to be back and getting ready to play.”
Barty also reflected on playing on the tour again after taking most of 2020 off due to the pandemic.
The world number one says there are plenty of positives to take from this time that the world is currently experiencing, “Everything has been positive,” Barty said.
“I’m extremely grateful that’s I’ve got an opportunity to be back doing what I love. We’re in an environment where the tours and the tournaments have done a fantastic job to be able to keep us safe and keeping the tournaments running.
“That’s probably been the biggest thing is that everywhere we have gone I felt extremely safe and I felt like abiding by the rules and guidelines we have been given to follow for me has been quite easy, it’s been quite seamless and certainly been nice to be back playing.
“Absolutely no complaints from my end. It’s been awesome being back out here playing some tournaments back to back to back. It’s been a really good start to what will hopefully be and continue to be a long and happy and healthy season.”
Barty is the top seed in Roland Garros and will face Bernarda Pera in her opening match in Paris.
Luca Van Assche beat Abdullah Shelbayh 4-3 (7-5) 3-4 (5-7) 4-1 4-1 to move to 1-0 in Red Group at the Next Gen ATP Finals in Jeddah.
Shelbayh thrilled the crowd with net approaches and drop shots but he converted just 2 of his 17 break points.
Both players were making their first appearance at the Next Gen Finals.
Shelbayh hit 28 winners to Van Assche’s 17. Van Assche made only 19 unforced errors to Shelbayh’s 34.
Van Assche earned an early break in the first game and saved three break points to hold serve on the deciding point in the second game to take a 2-0 lead. Shelbayh broke back at love in the fourth game to draw level to 2-2. Van Assche came back from 2-4 down to win the tie-break 7-5.
The second set went on serve en route to the tie-break. Van Assche saved four break points in the third game to hold serve on the deciding point. Shelbayh earned four set points at 6-2. Van Assche saved the first three set points to claw his way back to 5-6, but Shelbayh earned his fourth mini-break with a drop-shot to seal the tie-break 7-5.
Van Assche broke twice in the first and fifth games to win the third set 4-1. Shelbayh converted his third break point in the first game of the fourth set to take a 1-0 lead, but Van Assche won four consecutive games with two breaks of serve.
Van Assche won seven of the ten deciding points of the match.
“It was a tough match today against a tough opponent. I know Abdullah very well. He is an amazing player. He was almost at home with the crowd cheering for him. It was a good match for me and really tough from the beginning to the end. It is very difficult not to have a warm-up. I just hit a couple of balls before I entered the court”, said Van Assche.
Shelbayh received a strong support of the crowd from neighbouring Jordan.
Flavio Cobolli overcame 2022 semifinalist Dominic Stricker 4-2 3-4 (4-7) 4-1 4-2 after 1 hour and 39 minutes on his debut at the Next Gen ATP Finals in Jeddah to move to 1-0 in Green Group.
Cobolli converted four of his five break points and won nine of his ten games on the deciding point.
Sticker earned the first break point in the second game of the opening set, but Cobolli saved it with a forehand inside-out on the deciding point. Cobolli fended off another break point on the deciding point with a first serve winner in the fourth game. The Italian player broke serve in the fifth game on the deciding point with a forehand passing shot to take a 3-2 lead and served out the first set at 15.
The second set went on serve in the first three games with no break points. Stricker earned a break point in the fourth game, but Cobolli saved it to hold serve for 2-2. Stricker went up a 4-1 lead in the tie-break with a mini-break on the second point, but Cobolli pulled the mini-break back to draw level to 5-5. Cobolli saved two set points at 5-6 with a forehand down the line and another chance at 6-7. Stricker converted his third set point to win the tie-break 9-7 after 56 minutes.
Cobolli went down 0-40 on serve in the first game of the third set, but he won four consecutive points to save four break points to hold serve on the deciding point. The Italian player won 11 of the next 12 points and broke serve in the second game to open up a 2-0 lead. Stricker rallied from 0-40 down to 40-40, but Cobolli held serve on the deciding point with a forehand in the third game. Stricker earned three break points at 1-3 15-40 but Cobolli saved them to hold serve on the deciding point for 4-1.
The fourth set started with a series of breaks and counterbreaks, as Cobolli took a 2-1 lead with a break on the deciding point and held serve at 30 to open up a 3-1 lead. Cobolli earned a match point, but Stricker saved it on the deciding point. Cobolli served out the win on his second match point in the sixth game.
Cobolli will face Arthur Fils in the second match on Wednesday.
“I warmed up for a lot of time, so I was really hot on the court. I started the match really well. The courts are so fast, but I was faster than Stricker. I played a really good match and I am really happy”, said Cobolli.
Arthur Fils made a winning start to Green Group with a 2-4 4-3 (8-6) 4-2 1-4 4-2 win of Luca Nardi after 2 hours and 2 minutes in the opening match of the 2023 Next Gen ATP Finals at King Abdullah Sports City in Jeddah.
Fils served at 51% and faced only two break points.
Both players went on serve in the first four games. Nardi earned his first break at 15 in the fifth game to take a 3-2 lead, when Fils netted a forehand. Nardi served for the set at 3-2 and fired a service winner to close out the first set in 19 minutes.
Both players went on serve in the second set en route to the tie-break. Nardi fired an ace on the sixth point to draw level to 3-3. Fils earned a mini-break after Nardi made a loose backhand. Nardi pulled the mini-break back to draw level to 4-4 and forced a mistake from Fils to earn a set point at 5-5.
Fils saved a set point at 5-6 with a service winner. The Frenchman earned a mini-break at 7-6 to wrap up the tie-break of the second set 8-6 after 55 minutes.
Fils broke serve at 15 in the first game of the third set after a lucky net cord winner and earned another break point at 2-0. Nardi won the decisive point with a forehand down the line winner to hold serve in the third game. Fils held serve at 30 in the sixth game to win the third set 4-2 after 1 hour and 18 minutes.
Nardi faced two break points in the first game of the fourth set and saved them on the deciding point.
Nardi broke Fils in the fifth game when Fils made a forehand error. The Italian player closed out the fourth set with a service winner in the sixth game forcing the match to the fifth set after 1 hour and 38 minutes.
Both players went on serve in the opening five games of the decider. Nardi wasted a game point, and Fils earned the decisive break with a return winner to seal the win after 2 hours and 3 minutes.
Fils won the first ATP title in Lyon last May and finished the season at number 36. The Frenchman started 2023 at number 249, making the biggest jump into the top 50 from last yeat of any player on Tour.
“It was a tough match. The first set in my life I am playing first to four games. Things can change very quickly. I was leading two sets to one, had break points and I was feeling very good. Then I lost a deuce point and everything changed, but I I am really happy to win today”, said Fils.