The coach of Ash Barty admits that he didn’t know what to expect from the world No.1 heading into this year’s Wimbledon Championships following what he described as a ‘freakish’ injury.
Barty has become the first Australian woman to reach the final at The All England Club since 1980 after beating Angelique Kerber in the semifinals on Thursday. Despite being the top seed in the draw, there was uncertainty over how she would fare after withdrawing from the French Open with a left hip injury. Resulting in her just having over three weeks to recover and prepare for the grass-court major.
Guiding Barty back into shape is long-time coach Craig Tyzzer who has been working alongside her since 2016. He is a former player who played on the ATP Tour between 1979-1983.
“I felt she was in the best form I’ve seen her in prior to a tournament coming into that (the French Open),” Tyzzer told reporters on Friday. “It was a bit of a freakish thing that happened and put her out.’
“It’s been really different here (at Wimbledon). We weren’t able to do a lot of court time in the build-up coming in on court. Did a lot of rehab and a lot of building her strength back up. So it’s been a different preparation.”
Whilst the preparation has been different to what was initially planned by Barty’s camp, it seems to have done wonders for her. She is yet to drop a set at Wimbledon on what is the 10th anniversary of her junior triumph at the same event. Prior to Kerber, she defeated compatriot Ajla Tomljanović and reigning French Open champion Barbora Krejčíková.
“Her confidence level has been really good. She’s been playing good tennis. She’s been building, it’s getting better. We’ve got one more job to do,” Tyzzer commented.
Barty already has the experience of what it is like playing in a major final following her run to the Roland Garros title back in 2019. Since then the 25-year-old has won six additional titles but none of those have been in a major. Although she has been ranked continuously at the top of the rankings for almost 50 weeks.
Standing in her way of the Wimbledon title will be former world No.1 Karolina Pliskova who has also previously played in a major final herself. Like Barty, the Czech has also had a roller-coaster journey into the tournament but for a different reason. Pliskova lost in the first round of Berlin and Eastbourne, as well as falling in the first round of the French Open.
“She’s an incredible player. She’s got a phenomenal serve and got a big game off the ground as well,” Barty’s coach said of Pliskova.
“She’s obviously had a great tournament. You don’t get to the final of Wimbledon without playing well. She’s been playing some great tennis. It’s going to be an extremely difficult match. I know Ash is looking forward to it.”
It isn’t just Barty’s physical side which Tyzzer said has improved in recent times, it is also her mentality. In the past she has opened up about dealing with mental health issues and even took a break from the sport to reset. During that break she had a stint in women’s cricket and played in the Big Bash League.
“There have been times when she just questioned herself. I think all athletes go through that sort of thing. I think there’s a lot more acceptance of that and understanding of all that,” he said.
“She’s handling that stuff a lot better. It’s an ongoing thing. It’s like hitting a forehand and backhand, you just keep working on it, you keep building. She’s getting better and better at those things all the time.”
Barty leads Pliskova 5-2 in their head-to-head going into Saturday’s Wimbledon final.
