Ash Barty sends early warning to grass-court rivals
French Open champion Ash Barty has picked up where she left off on clay with a strong win to open her grass-court season in Birmingham.
The 23-year-old won her breakthrough major on the dirt just weeks before moving to her favourite surface.
And the world No.2 kicked off her charge towards Wimbledon with a first-round win over Donna Vekic at the WTA Premier event.
Barty wobbled towards the end, broken while serving for the match at 5-2, but came up trumps 6-3 6-4 in one hour and 15 minutes.
.@ashbar96 claims the opener, 6-3 💪#NatureValleyClassic pic.twitter.com/Dmf0FA0Ski
— WTA (@WTA) June 19, 2019
This is just very impressive from Barty...
— José Morgado (@josemorgado) June 19, 2019
Good 6-3 6-4 win for Ash Barty over Donna Vekic in Birmingham, her first singles match since winning the French Open. Looked like just another normal day at the office.
Barty is now 32-5 in 2019.— Tumaini Carayol (@tumcarayol) June 19, 2019
The Australian will face American Jennifer Brady in the second round.
Barty, the second seed in Birmingham, is unlikely to chase down Naomi Osaka for the world No.1 ranking this week.
She would need Osaka – already into the second round – to lose relatively early before going on to reach the final or win the title herself.
However, the Aussie could overhaul the incumbent next week at Eastbourne while Osaka takes a week off before Wimbledon.
