'Absolutely schooled': Ash Barty's brutal takedown of American teens
Ash Barty has bounced back from her early exit from the US Open singles, teaming up with Victoria Azarenka to reach the quarter-finals of the doubles.
Barty and Azarenka taught American teenagers Coco Gauff and Caty McNally a lesson on Monday, winning 6-0, 6-1 in just 47 minutes.
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Gauff (15) and McNally (17) - affectionately known as ‘McCoco’ - had captured the imagination of American tennis fans after teaming up last month.
They once again drew a near-capacity crowd for their match, this time on the Grandstand court.
However their dream run ended with a brutal thrashing at the hands of the eight seeds.
Well, quite. Gauff/McNally lose 6-0, 6-1 in just 48 minutes to Azarenka/Barty. Crowd very disappointed #usopen
— Bob Williams (@WilliamsBob75) September 2, 2019
As much as New Yorkers❤️ bagels, they probably didn’t like the one that Vika Azarenka & Ash Barty delivered to Coco Gauff and Caty McNally in the 3rd round of #USOpen2019 doubles play. 8th seeds def. Gauff & McNally 6-0, 6-1, and will face off against top seeds Babos & Mladenovic
— Diane Elayne Dees (@WomenWhoServe) September 2, 2019
#Barty -#Azarenka give a free lesson to McCoco #Gauff-#McNally 6-0, 6-1. Both Barty & Azarenka have Singles & Doubles Slams so are a really tough pairing #USOpen
— rajesh (@rajeshworld) September 2, 2019
Man, Azarenka/Barty absolutely *schooled* Gauff/McNally to dispel all of the hype in the most emphatic way possible. 👀 #USOpen
— Max Gao (@MaxJGao) September 2, 2019
Azarenka and Barty hand Caty McNally and Coco Gauff their first defeat as a team at any level: 6-0, 6-1 in the third round of the US Open. McCoco has mcprogress to make but what an exciting and encouraging summer for the American teens https://t.co/5uFUjgIZZR
— Christopher Clarey (@christophclarey) September 2, 2019
The end of the line in this year’s #USOpen for #McCoco
Gauff and McNally well beaten by Barty and Azarenka, who should prove a formidable pair
What an experience it’s been for both of the American teenagers pic.twitter.com/Wpmjh9C61U— Nicholas McGee (@nicholasmcgee24) September 2, 2019
.@ashbar96 still alive here at the @usopen teaming up with @vika7 to defeat American teens Coco Gauff & Caty McNally 6-0, 6-1 to reach the quarter finals. pic.twitter.com/hQK0QBMjiV
— The First Serve (@TheFirstServeAU) September 2, 2019
Barty and Azarenka will face Kristina Mladenovic and Timea Babos in the quarters on Tuesday (local time).
Barty reclaims World No.1
Barty is poised to crown her phenomenal season by becoming the first Australian woman to ever top the year-ending tennis rankings.
Barty will officially regain the world No.1 spot on Monday following Naomi Osaka's fourth-round US Open loss to Belinda Bencic.
Osaka, the defending champion at Flushing Meadows, crashed out of the US Open on Monday in a 7-5 6-4 defeat.
Osaka came into the tournament ranked higher than Barty, but because she won the title in 2018 she had to win it again to defend her rankings points.
Despite both women losing in the fourth round, Barty will now jump ahead.
And the 23-year-old French Open champion is a hot favourite to finish 2019 as No.1 having not only built a healthy rankings lead over her rivals but also having significantly fewer points to defend over the last two months of the season.
Realistically, only Karolina Pliskova can catch Barty, but it will take a huge effort from the Czech to do so.
Barty will enter the Asian swing with a 376-point lead over Pliskova and with 372 rankings points less to defend.
Osaka will slip to No.3 in the world after the US Open and will trail Barty by 1655 points with 45 more points to defend.
That leaves the Japan's reigning Australian Open champion with less than no hope of ending the season as No.1 for a second straight year.
with AAP