World Number One Barty Not Bothered Despite Brisbane International Exit
9th January 2020
American qualifier Jennifer Brady notched up her first ever win over a top 10 player when she beat Barty 6-4, 7-6 (7/4) on Pat Rafter Arena
- World number one Ashleigh Barty remains upbeat about her Australian Open preparations despite losing her opening match of the season at the Brisbane International on Thursday
- Barty conceded afterwards she had simply been outplayed by Brady, who also beat former world number one Maria Sharapova in the first round
- Brady will now play two-time Wimbledon champion Petra Kvitova, who beat Russian qualifier Liudmila Samsonova 6-3, 6-2
BRISBANE, Australia-
World number one Ashleigh Barty remains upbeat about her Australian Open
preparations despite losing her opening match of the season at the Brisbane
International on Thursday.
American qualifier Jennifer Brady notched up her first ever
win over a top 10 player when she beat Barty 6-4, 7-6 (7/4) on Pat Rafter
Arena.
It was Barty’s first match on home soil since becoming world
number one, and came at the venue she trains at and in front of thousands of
her adoring home fans.
Barty conceded afterwards she had simply been outplayed by
Brady, who also beat former world number one Maria Sharapova in the first
round.
"Jen was in control of the match -- she was in the
centre of the court being the aggressor and I think you have to give credit
where credit's due,” Barty, who practised with Brady early this week, said.
"She came through qualifying, but she's got a ranking
that's kind of well below what a lot of people give her credit for.
"She's playing some exceptional tennis, so I certainly
can't take that away from her. She played a great match today and deserved to
win."
Barty grew up in Ipswich on Brisbane's western outskirts and
has had hundreds of fans packing outside courts to watch her practice this
week.
But when she was asked whether she felt any pressure because
of the attention she insisted she didn’t feel any different.
"I think that's (the pressure) all come you from you
guys, if I'm being completely honest," she said.
"It doesn't change the way that I practice. It doesn't
change the way that my team and I prepare. It doesn't change me as a person.
"I think that you guys enjoy the fact that you get
something to write about and you have something to talk about. So hopefully I
make it interesting for you, but I don't look at it beyond that."
Brady will now play two-time Wimbledon champion Petra
Kvitova, who beat Russian qualifier Liudmila Samsonova 6-3, 6-2.
World number two and defending champion had to battle for
two hours to avoid the same fate as Barty, eventually beating Australian
wildcard Ajla Tomljanovic 6-4, 6-7 (5/7), 6-1.
Pliskova will meet Alison Riske of the US in the
quarter-finals.