Because of canceled flights, it took Ash Barty 45 hours to travel from Australia to Florida for a tennis tournament. Her stay at the Miami Open will be longer than that, thanks only to an improbable comeback on Thursday.
World No. 1 Barty rallied from a big third-set deficit and overcame a match point to win her opening match against qualifier Kristina Kucova, 6-3, 4-6, 7-5.
“Matches like that are extremely fulfilling, knowing you’ve done the work over an extended period to get just over the edge,” Barty said. “That was a really tough one today, and I enjoyed every single second of it.”
Photo: Geoff Burke-USA Today
Barty, who won the most recent Miami Open title in 2019, trailed 5-2 in the final set. In the next game she faced a match point, which she saved by ripping a weak serve for a winner.
Barty fell behind 0-40 serving in the final game, but rallied against Slovak world No. 149 Kucova.
Barty closed out the victory with a service winner and then tapped her temple with her index finger, a gesture of tribute to her mental fortitude.
“We never give up, no matter what we’re feeling,” she said.
Playing away from Australia for the first time in more than a year, Barty won despite an unreliable forehand. She hit 40 unforced errors on that side, but compensated somewhat with 15 aces.
Barty said that jet lag, and the time difference between Miami and Australia, made the match a challenge.
“You kind of forget how much it can take out of you, but you have to accept that’s the way it is,” Barty said. “It worked in my favor this morning — I got to watch some Aussie [rules] football back home.”
In the evening session, world No. 31 Coco Gauff lost the final five games and was beaten by Anastasija Sevastova of Latvia 1-6, 6-2, 6-3.
Gauff, who turned 17 this month, was seeded at a WTA Tour event for the first time, but could not control her forehand down the stretch.
Sevastova also beat Gauff at last year’s US Open.
On a warm, humid, afternoon heat breaks were imposed for some matches, and players slid bags of ice under their caps during changeovers to cool off.
However, the conditions were too much for Britain’s Jack Draper, who was overcome by the heat, collapsed on set point and retired against Mikhail Kukushkin.
“The conditions got on top of me a little bit,” Draper said.
Wild-card Ana Konjuh of Croatia upset 18th seed Madison Keys in the second round, 6-4, 6-2.
Konjuh’s career has been slowed by four elbow surgeries and in two days she earned her first two wins on the WTA Tour since 2018.
Fifth seed Elina Svitolina of Ukraine overcame an early deficit and a wrist injury to edge American Shelby Rogers 3-6, 7-5, 6-3.
“It was not a perfect performance from me, but the win is the win,” Svitolina said.
Third seed Simona Halep also rallied to beat Caroline Garcia 3-6, 6-4, 6-0.
In the first round of the men’s singles, qualifier Thanasi Kokkinakis won an ATP Tour match for the first time in three years by beating another qualifier, Shintaro Mochizuki, 6-3, 6-3.
Kokkinakis is mounting a comeback from a shoulder injury. He beat Roger Federer as a qualifier in Miami three years ago and returned to the tour last month after being sidelined for more than a year.
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