World No.1 Ash Barty was already looking forward to the Australian summer of tennis as she visited Far North Queensland last week.
Barty last played competitively at the Qatar Open in February, before the tennis tour shut down because of the coronavirus pandemic.
“Already, thinking about the Australian Open in 2021 makes me smile,” the Aussie said as she joined six young indigenous tennis players for a spectacular cultural walk at Mossman Gorge in the Daintree Forest, one of the world’s oldest rainforests.
“I can’t help but have a smile on my face - I have such great memories and I feel like I am at home.
“It’s incredible to get the love and support that I do and even though it may look different, we’ll wait and see, but I certainly can’t wait to get back out there.”
Barty confirmed last week that she will not travel to the US Open later this month, and she will decide in the coming weeks whether to defend her French Open title in September.
“We will make a decision as late as possible to give ourselves the best chance to get there,” she said, “but it will all be circumstantial.
“We will see what cards we are dealt at the time and make a decision from there.”
The enforced absence of five months and counting has at least allowed the 24-year-old to spend some unexpected time at home.
“It’s been a challenging year,” she said.
Read: Barty & Australian Tennis Foundation support Indigenous programs
“I think what has been trickiest about it is just the uncertainty – it feels like it is ever-changing, every day, every week and it’s having to be a bit more fluid and understand at the moment, we don’t have a lot of control, so it’s important to do what we can.
“But for me it’s been a silver lining where I can connect with my family, I can stay at home, continue to work on myself as a person and keep chipping away at my tennis game, and hopefully we’ll be back on the court soon.”
Barty added: “Without a doubt I’ve missed the competition and I don’t think I’ve realised just how much I have missed it.
"But I know that I am itching to get back out there when the time is right, and when I feel like I am ready to go, we will be out there in a heartbeat. I think now it’s all about just staying safe, doing the right things and when the time comes we’ll be ready to go.”
In the meantime, Barty, a proud Ngarigo woman, has turned her attention to her role as Tennis Australia’s Indigenous Tennis Ambassador.
“When I come out to opportunities like this, I just want to join in, because for me this brings the joy that tennis brought to me as a youngster,” she said.
“I feel very privileged to be in a position where I can chat to these kids and talk about my journey and my experiences, [and] knowing that my idol kind of growing up, as I got a little bit older, was Evonne [Goolagong Cawley], and how in-depth and ingrained she is in these opportunities, is incredible as well and makes me so proud.”
The trip to Far North Queensland with the Australian Tennis Foundation, helping reveal AU$115,000 support for regional indigenous programs in her home state, is just one way in which Barty has put this unscheduled time away from tennis to good use.
“It’s also been a time for me where I’ve just gained more perspective,” she added.
“I’ve gained more appreciation for how lucky you are to do the things that you love, and for me I am extremely grateful and very lucky to be able to play tennis as a living and as a profession and travel all around the world.
“But right now, it’s not the time to do that, so we’ve just got to take stock a little bit, and I think it really does make you more appreciative of the opportunities that you do have.”