Ash Barty, who’s enjoyed the 27th match win of a stellar year, has booked a quarter-final date with young American star Coco Gauff at the Italian Open.
Ash Barty, fresh from being awed by the Colosseum in a rare chance to go sightseeing in Rome, has knuckled back down to business in a tennis amphitheatre that’s also given her the “wow” factor.
Australia’s very own gladiator loved her first taste of the “intimidating” Centrale court at the Foro Italico as she disposed of dangerous Russian challenger Veronika Kudermetova 6-3 6-3 in the Italian Open on Thursday.
It left Barty ready to cross swords for the first time with the much-hyped young pretender, Coco Gauff, in Friday’s quarter-finals after the 17-year-old sensationally knocked out on-song Aryna Sabalenka 7-5 6-3.
“Coco’s shown she loves to bring her best tennis against the players that challenge her the most. She’s played an exceptional tournament … it’s going to be an exciting match no doubt,” enthused Barty after extending her season-leading win tally to 27.
Barty left Centrale bathed in smiles after dispatching Kudermetova, a recent winner on green clay in Charleston, in 81 minutes.
With Roman crowds back in the stands, she was in her element, enjoying the “cool vibe” of one of the great modern clay-court arenas.
“It’s intimidating, without a doubt. Once I walked out there, it was a bit of a ‘wow’ factor,” Barty enthused.
“The crowds were on the grounds, which is really exciting for us players. You forget how steep the stands are. Literally feels like everyone’s kind of surrounding you and on top of you.”
At first, Barty found the ambience a little difficult to get used to as the crisp-hitting Kudermetova blitzed into a 2-0, 30-love lead.
But the Russian then got fazed, and her courtside team irritated, when a poor umpiring call went against her, gifting Barty a way back into the game and the match.
Kudermetova never truly recovered as Barty increasingly dominated, ultimately cracking 20 winners and firing down nine aces to set up the battle with Gauff.
Having beaten Barty’s weary-looking Madrid final conqueror Sabalenka, the teenager now can’t wait to tackle the world’s best, describing Barty’s play as “very smart” and “tricky”.
“It will be great to see where my level is. She’s the number one player in the world and I have no pressure on me,” she shrugged.
Gauff will have an anime hero in her corner, revealing she’s been helped on court by a breathing technique she learned from watching the Japanese series Demon Slayer.
“The main character, Tanjiro, has this breathing technique right before he fights. When I get nervous, I notice that slowing down my breathing helps me a lot,” she said.
“At least five to 10 times it was in my head, ”you gotta do the total concentration breathing that Tanjiro does’.”
She’ll certainly need something special to beat Barty, who’s so relaxed, having taken advantage of organisers’ easing of COVID restrictions by enjoying hour-long walks through the city.
“The other day went down to the Colosseum, had a bit of a look, walked back. It’s nice to break up the day, get some fresh air,” she said.
“It’s been really enjoyable to get out in such a beautiful city. I’ve never actually seen Rome so quiet from a tourist point of view. Been quite a novelty to see it like this.”
Best women’s match of the day saw French Open champion Iga Swiatek save two match points in the second set en route to a 3-6 7-6 (7-5) 7-5 victory over Czech Barbora Krejcikova.
© AAP
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