MELBOURNE: World number one and home hope Ashleigh Barty suffered a scare before powering into the second round of the Australian Open on Monday.
The 23-year-old recovered from a slow start to see off Ukraine’s Lesia Tsurenko 5-7, 6-1, 6-1 under the roof at a partisan and wet Melbourne.
Barty gained pressure to deliver a home women’s champion for the first time since Chris O’Neil in 1978, plays Polona Hercog of Slovenia or Sweden’s Rebecca Peterson next.
Barty, who joked on the eve of her opener that she was sick of seeing her picture everywhere, is the face of the first Grand Slam of the year.
A nation expects, and Barty said after dismissing the 120th-ranked Ukrainian that she had always felt in control, despite the indifferent start. She told the support in the Rod Laver Arena as absolutely incredible and Barty had been looking forward to playing there.
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