Ash Barty recovered from a slow start against Lesia Tsurenko to glide into the second round of Australian Open 2020 on Monday night.
In an early test of how she would handle the spotlight and expectations at her home Grand Slam event, where she is the first Australian top seed since 2003, Barty passed it impressively, winning 12 of the last 14 games to seal a 5-7 6-1 6-1 victory.
Under lights at Rod Laver Arena before a near-capacity crowd, Barty cut the unforced errors out of her game that plagued her in the first set to win in a touch over 90 minutes.
MORE: All the results from Day 1 in Melbourne
“I felt comfortable knowing that I just needed to change a few things, to adjust, to try and bring the match back in my favour,” Barty said.
“I think the crowd was incredible. Certainly once I got a bit of a roll on, they became more and more influential, I think. It was pretty nice to play in front of a full crowd tonight.”
The world No.1 next faces either Polona Hercog or Rebecca Peterson for a place in the third round.
Barty enjoyed a vociferous welcome back to the court where she’d last appeared in the 2019 quarterfinals – then her best Grand Slam result.
Yet in the intervening 12 months, she won her first major singles title at Roland Garros and rose to world No.1 two weeks later – a position she continues to hold.
Her progression to superstar status in her homeland was on show throughout January, with Barty frequently appearing on TV commercials and billboards. The hype had only intensified after Barty triumphed last week in Adelaide for her first tour-level title on home soil.
At Rod Laver Arena, the crowd cheered as the MC proclaimed her top-seeded status during the warm-up, and Barty waved her racquet in acknowledgment as the cheers grew louder when he announced her name.
Their slightly stunned reaction that followed, therefore, was understandable; Tsurenko played an impressive first set against the error-prone Aussie to take an early lead.
Perhaps they should not have been surprised.
This time last year, Tsurenko was the 24th seed at Melbourne Park, fresh off a run to the final in Brisbane. A few months earlier she was a US Open quarterfinalist, and has notched wins over Naomi Osaka, Caroline Wozniacki and Garbine Muguruza. She also beat Barty in their most recent meeting, in Brisbane in 2018.
Yet after peaking at world No.23 in February 2019, a right elbow injury forced the Ukrainian to sit out the final four months of the season.
And her lack of match fitness began to show in the second set.
“I was frustrated that I wasn't hitting the ball in the court when I wanted to. I think I was aiming for big targets and missing by quite a bit, which I wasn't comfortable with, I wasn't happy with,” Barty admitted.
“Being able to kind of rectify that and fix that so quickly at the start of the second set was really important.
“I think I was pressing a little bit early. Made a few too many errors. Was able to tighten the screws in the second set and run away with it.”
Barty forged ahead 4-1 as Tsurenko managed just one winner while spraying nine errors. The world No.1, conversely, reducing her unforced error tally from 19 in the first set to five in the second.
Now unloading on her forehand, Barty was looking increasingly comfortable and potent, and served out the set strongly courtesy of three aces.
Barty’s winners and Tsurenko’s errors continued to combine in the third set, allowing the Australian’s dominance to continue.
Tsurenko double-faulted on match point to hand Barty victory.