'Class act': Ash Barty's brilliant response to divisive tennis issue

Ash Barty has been praised for her classy response to getting the Covid-19 vaccine ahead of the clay-court season in Europe.

Following her singles victory on Wednesday, Barty was back action at the Stuttgart Open as she joined forces with Australian Open finalist Jennifer Brady for the doubles competition.

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The pair beat the Chinese pair of Yifan Xu and Shuai Zhang 6-4 6-3 and reach the semi-finals.

But facing the media after, Barty was asked about if she had received the vaccine yet.

The issue has been a contentions topic on the ATP and WTA Tour, despite Barty announcing she would get the vaccine when it was her time.

Too the surprise of some, a number of tennis players at the Miami Open expressed hesitation over the vaccine.

This included Andrey Rublev, Aryna Sabalenka, and Elina Svitolina.

But following the question directed at the World No.1, Barty offered up a classy response for her fellow Australians after announcing she had been vaccinated.

“We were looking at different avenues to try and get vaccinated without jumping the queue in Australia,” Barty said, according to New York Times tennis reporter Ben Rothenberg.

“To see what our options were and we weren’t able to get much of an answer before we left in March.

“We were able to get the vaccine, as were a lot of other players, through the Tour and that they had organised through a certain pharmacy that had extras, and that was important to me knowing that those who were the most vulnerable were able to get it first.

“It was nice to know that we have got that small layer of protection.”

Barty was praised for her honest answer.

Barty's rival sends warning at Stuttgart

Karolina Pliskova has served a warning to Barty by cracking down a personal best 21 aces en route to setting up a fascinating quarter-final with Australia's world No.1 in Stuttgart.

The big-hitting Czech battled through a draining contest on the indoor clay at the Porsche Grand Prix before finally getting the better of former French Open champion Jelena Ostapenko in a three-set marathon on Thursday.

Former US Open finalist Pliskova came back from a set down and fired down 10 aces in the last set alone before prevailing 6-7 (7-9) 6-4 6-3 to set up a seventh meeting with Barty.

"I like spending time on this court," smiled the Czech after having had to fend off the Ostapenko fireworks for nearly two-and-a-half hours.

Pliskova had even ended up hurling a racquet down in a fury at one point, pointing out wryly afterwards: "It always helps me when I break a racquet."

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with AAP

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