Australian Ashleigh Barty has scored her first ever win at the Hobart International – but was forced to do it the hard way.
This is Barty’s third appearance at the tournament, having lost first round main draw matches as a wildcard in 2012 and 2013. Today the Australian, ranked No.271 and on the comeback from a brief foray into professional cricket, defeated South Korean Su Jeong Jang 6-3 2-6 6-4 in the first round of qualifying.
Barty started strongly in her return to the Domain Tennis Centre, securing the first set. But Jang lifted, and only dropped seven points on serve to take the second. Barty was struggling to construct the points like she had earlier in the match, spraying her ground strokes and getting visibly frustrated.
“The whole match I was struggling for rhythm on both serve and off groundies as well, and I think when you lose that confidence a little bit it is tricky to regain it again,” Barty admitted. “At the end of the second, it was about starting fresh and thinking fresh for the third set.”
A more composed Barty struck first in the deciding set, breaking in the opening game – but couldn’t take advantage, dropping her serve on a poorly-executed drop shot in the next game. The pair continued to trade breaks until the fifth game, when Jang held.
Games then continued on serve until the ninth game, when Barty struck again to set up the opportunity to serve for the match. The 20-year-old took it, securing the win in just under two hours and sealing it with her sixth ace.
“I was a little bit flat today. You know, just jumping off the plane and not being able to hit yesterday when we got in, but no stress,” Barty admitted.
“I’m just excited we get another crack tomorrow and hopefully we can improve on today.”
Fourth-seeded American Nicole Gibbs awaits in the second round.
Gibbs, the world No.88, scored her first win of the season with a 6-4 6-2 victory over Romanian Ana Bogdan in the opening round.
“She was a really tough opponent for a first round qualifying match,” Gibbs said post-match. “She had some really good results at the end of last year, so I just came out to try and play my game. I think I did a pretty good job and I’m really excited to be moving on.”
The popular American admitted she had not looked ahead in her draw but is ready to face Barty.
“She’s obviously an incredible and very talented player, and one of Australia’s young hopefuls so I can’t imagine I’ll have too much crowd support, but I’m looking forward to playing the match,” she said.
Belgian Elise Mertens knocked out fifth seed Nao Hibino from Japan, winning 6-3 6-4, while Austrian Barbara Haas won a marathon 5-7 7-5 7-6(4) encounter against Russian Anastasia Pivovarova.