Ash Barty Downs Spirited Suarez Navarro At Wimbledon - UBITENNIS

Ash Barty Downs Spirited Suarez Navarro At Wimbledon

Ash Barty downed Carla Suarez Navarro at Wimbledon as the Spaniard played her final match at SW19.

By Tony Fairbairn
3 Min Read

Ash Barty moved into the second round at Wimbledon with a 6-1 6-7(1) 6-0 win over Carla Suarez Navarro.

The world number one overcame a tricky second set over the Spaniard to reach the second round at SW19.

For Suarez Navarro it was another memorable moment having recovered from cancer a short time ago.

Barty will now play Anna Blinkova or Timea Babos next.

It was a perfect start for Barty who managed to use her accurate serving and tricky slices to cause Suarez Navarro problems.

Free-flowing tennis was the epitome of Barty’s play as she constructed effective points against the Spaniard who was struggling to overpower the Australian’s defensive weapons.

Two consecutive breaks of serve saw Barty in full control as she took the opening set 6-1 in 26 minutes.

Early in the second set, the roof was forced to be closed after the pending rain hitting the grounds.

When play resumed Suarez Navarro started to get more success in neutralising the points as Barty’s level slightly dipped.

A few more unforced errors started to creep into the top seed’s game as she struggled to contain the backhand and point construction of Suarez Navarro.

Barty dealt the crucial blow in the ninth game as she looked to be heading to a straight sets win.

However the Spaniard was hoping to make this last Wimbledon match a memorable one and immediately broke back as the crowd willed her on to extend the length of the match.

That she did as she outpowered Barty using some great angles as the Australian continued to commit unforced errors.

Winning seven of the eight points, Suarez Navarro won the second set tiebreak and forced a third set.

But just like all great champions Barty responded in emphatic fashion with slices, power and supreme net skills ensuring there would be no fairy-tale finish.

After the match Barty praised her opponent, “She’s a fighter, she’s an incredible competitor, she’s a lovely person and genuinely you can’t find one bad word to say about her,” Barty said in her on-court interview.

Barty completed her win to reach the second round as the Centre Court crowd rose to a rapturous applause for the Spaniard.

With her mum filming the whole ending, Suarez Navarro said goodbye to the hallowed courts of Wimbledon.

As for the world number one she now faces Anna Blinkova or Timea Babos on Thursday.

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