Ash Barty experienced little difficulty in her first competitive match on the clay for almost two years at the Volvo Open in Charleston.
The Australian Grand Slam winner hasn’t played on the surface since her triumph in the final of the 2019 French Open. Since then Barty missed a large chunk of the Tour after skipping most of last season due to travel concerns related to the COVID-19 pandemic. She started her comeback to the Tour in January and has since won titles in Melbourne and Miami.
Taking to the green clay courts of the Family Circle Tennis Center on Wednesday, Barty was in clinical form as she brushed aside Japan’s Misaki Doi 6-2, 6-1, in her opening match of the tournament. The 62-minute encounter saw the top seed impressively win 90% of her first service points as she broke Doi five times in total.
“There was an adjustment period, without a doubt,” Barty said. “It was a very quick turnaround from Miami, just had a couple of hours of practice. I was, honestly, just hoping I didn’t trip and fall over trying to slide. But it came back quite naturally. So really happy to be back here, particularly in Charleston, but back on clay.”
The 24-year-old is likely to face stiffer competition in the next round when she plays local favourite Shelby Rogers who is playing in the tournament for the 10th time in her career. The American world No.52 upset 14th seed Amanda Anisimova 1-6, 7-5, 6-4, in what was a roller-coaster encounter with there being 18 breaks of serve.
“She’s pretty darned good, that’s what I’ve learned,” Rogers said of Barty. “She’s serving great, like we saw in Miami, and she’s got a lot of confidence on her serve. That will be a huge factor, whether I can get in some of those games. But you are doing something right if you get to play the No. 1 player in the world three times already.”
It will be the third time the two players have faced each other on the Tour this season. Barty dropped a set against Rogers at the Yarra Valley Classic before winning. Then at the Australian Open she prevailed in straight sets.
Following a series of high-profile exits, Barty is the only top 10 seed left in the top half of the draw. The only other seed in her section is Veronika Kudermetova (15) who could play Barty in the semi-finals. In contrast, the bottom half still has five seeds playing.
Despite being a French Open champion, Barty is yet to win a WTA title on the clay anywhere else.
