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Ash Barty's brilliant response to US Open doubles controversy

Sam Goodwin
·Sports Editor

Ashleigh Barty has brushed off the disappointment of her shock exit from the US Open singles, powering into the doubles semi-finals with fellow former world No.1 Victoria Azarenka.

Bidding to go back-to-back in New York after winning last year's title with Coco Vandeweghe, Barty and Azarenka upset top seeds Timea Babos and Kristina Mladenovic 2-6 7-5 6-1 in the quarter-finals on Tuesday.

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Barty and Azarenka stormed back from a set and break down to stun the top seeds.

Ashleigh Barty and Victoria Azarenka, pictured here at the US Open.
Ashleigh Barty and Victoria Azarenka in action. (Photo by Elsa/Getty Images)

“It's important to stay positive, keep your energy up, keep that scoreboard pressure on and just give yourself a chance,” Barty said of the comeback.

Set to regain her world No.1 singles ranking next week, Barty is now two wins away from becoming the first woman in more than a decade to secure the doubles crown two years in a row in New York.

Frenchwoman Nathalie Dechy was the last player to achieve the feat in 2006 and 2007 with Russians Vera Zvonareva and Dinara Safina.

Timea Babos and Kristina Mladenovic, pictured here in action at the US Open.
Timea Babos and Kristina Mladenovic are top seeds. (Photo by Elsa/Getty Images)

It also serves as a brilliant response from Barty after she received some criticism for playing doubles, which some believed hampered her chances in the singles.

Sports Illustrated writer Jon Wertheim questioned the wisdom of Barty playing doubles for two and a half hours on Saturday, 24 hours before her loss to Wang Qiang in the fourth round of the singles.

Barty and Azarenka won that match 12-10 in a third-set tiebreaker, and fans thought she looked tired the next day.

Doubles is Barty’s first love

Rather than dwell on her singles loss, Barty preferred to reflect on a watershed grand slam season and focus on the doubles.

"It's been incredible. Yeah, I mean, it's a tough day at the office today, but it's been a year where we've hit our goals. Obviously I would have loved to have kept going here in singles, but we've got an opportunity to do that in doubles," Barty said.

"Knowing what it was like last year to be able to lift the trophy in doubles was really cool. To be able to have another opportunity to do that now, still being able to play in doubles, is a bonus.

"We've had a great season in grand slams for singles. We've made the second week every single one, which has been really special.

"Now we'll sit back, reflect, and look forward to a big couple months to finish off the year."

with AAP