Taiwan’s Hsieh Su-wei on Sunday claimed her third doubles title of the season at the Nature Valley Classic in Birmingham, England, while Ashleigh Barty became the first Australian in 43 years to climb to the top of the world rankings after she won the singles title
Second seeds Hsieh and Barbora Strycova outlasted fourth seeds Anna-Lena Groenefeld and Demi Schuurs 6-4, 6-7 (4/7), 10-8 in 1 hour, 49 minutes in a rain-interrupted doubles final that had to be completed indoors.
The Taiwanese-Czech duo saved five of nine break points and converted five of 13, winning 54 percent of points on their second serve to add the Birmingham title to their victories in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, in February and Madrid last month.
Photo: AFP
The victory improved their career record over the German-Dutch duo to 2-0 after a straight-sets quarter-final victory on their way to the title in Dubai.
In the singles final, 23-year-old Barty beat Germany’s Julia Goerges 6-3, 7-5, knocking Japan’s Naomi Osaka off the summit when the new rankings were released yesterday.
“It’s been the most incredible journey for me and my team,” Barty said on court after a standing ovation from the crowd and a warm hug from her doubles partner Goerges. “You always dream about [being world No. 1] as a little kid, but for it to become a reality it’s incredible and not something that was even in my realm, we were aiming for top 10 this year.”
Barty’s route to the top has been nothing if not an unconventional one.
The former junior Wimbledon champion took an indefinite break from tennis at the end of 2014, recently citing mental health issues as the reason, and played Big Bash cricket for Brisbane Heat before returning to the sport in 2016.
Since then her rise has been remarkable.
“We started from scratch three-and-a-half years ago without a ranking and now to be where we are is a massive achievement for me and my team,” said Barty, whose return has been overseen by coach Craig Tyzzer.
She won the Miami title this year to break into the top 10 for the first time, then this month she became the first Australian woman to win the French Open for 46 years.
Now she has become the 27th woman to reach No. 1 since WTA rankings were introduced in 1975.
“She is a truly impressive person and deserves every success that comes her way. I couldn’t be prouder to be her coach,” Tyzzer told the WTA Web site. “Over the last three years, Ash has grown as a person and as a player. What has stayed constant is her genuine, humble and respectful nature.”
Despite the prize at stake, Barty looked calm and composed in the final against Goerges, just as she did when beating Marketa Vondrousova in the Roland Garros final two weeks previously.
Her only moment of concern was when she faced a set point at 4-5 in the second set, but in true champion style she fired an ace.
Two games later a Goerges error confirmed Barty’s coronation and the end of Osaka’s 21-week stay at the summit.
The last Australian woman to reach the No. 1 ranking was Evonne Goolagong in 1976, although it only came to light 31 years later after the discovery of an error in the records.
Like Goolagong, Barty is also proud of her indigenous Australian heritage, with her father having Ngarigo ancestry through one of his grandmothers.
“I’m a little bit speechless, it’s been a whirlwind few weeks to be honest and to be able to follow in the footsteps of Evonne and even [get] mentioned in the same sentence is incredible,” said Barty, who will be the top seed at Wimbledon. “What she has done for our sport and Australians all around the world, she put us on the map, and what she has done for indigenous Australians is remarkable.”
However, there were no elaborate celebrations for Barty, as she said she was heading to Eastbourne to continue her Wimbledon preparations.
Jonas Vingegaard on Tuesday claimed the overall Vuelta a Espana lead while Jay Vine earned the stage 10 victory for his second triumph of the race. Two-time Tour de France winner Vingegaard overhauled Torstein Traen’s lead to head the general classification by 26 seconds from the Norwegian, with Joao Almeida third and trailing the Dane by 38 seconds. Vine put in an unmatchable performance on the final climb to finish ahead of Spanish Movistar riders Pablo Castrillo and Javier Romo. “Back in red, I’m happy with it, it’s a beautiful jersey,” Vingegaard said. “I’m happy with how the day went,
RIVALRY: Carlos Alcaraz lost his previous two matches against Serbia’s Novak Djokovic, in the Australian Open quarter-finals this year and Paris Olympics final last year Spain’s Carlos Alcaraz on Tuesday dazzled at the US Open to make the semi-finals before Novak Djokovic of Serbia danced his way through to book a New York showdown with the Spaniard that would mark the latest chapter in their generational rivalry. Former champion Alcaraz produced yet another entertaining display at Flushing Meadows to dismantle 20th seed Jiri Lehecka 6-4, 6-2, 6-4 at a sunbathed Arthur Ashe Stadium, securing his place in the last four without dropping a set this year. “Sometimes I play a shot that I should not play in that moment, but it’s the way I love
Australian Alex de Minaur reached the second week of the US Open for the third year in a row with little fanfare on Saturday and said he intended to keep winning until the tournament organizers were forced to give him better billing. Despite being the eighth seed and a quarter-finalist last year at Flushing Meadows, De Minaur’s third-round match against German Daniel Altmaier was scheduled for Court 17 — the smallest of the four stadium venues in the precinct. “It is a little bit of a headscratcher for me. I’m not gonna lie,” he told reporters after progressing 6-7 (9/7), 6-3, 6-4,
Spain are in danger of not getting out of EuroBasket Group C after losing 67-63 to Italy on Tuesday, but the defending champions still control their destiny. Marco Spissu put Italy in front for good at 64-63 with two free throws with 31 seconds left and made two more with 14 seconds remaining. Giampaolo Ricci converted one of two free throws with eight seconds on the clock. Spain, which in 2022 won their fourth title, are tied with Georgia, and Bosnia and Herzegovina at 2-2 each. Greece and Italy have clinched two of the group’s four spots in the round-of-16,
RSS