World No.1 Barty overcame her struggles on serve to beat Blinkova in straight sets to reach the third round at the All-England Club.
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World No.1 Ashleigh Barty had little trouble in overcoming Russian Anna Blinkova, 6-4, 6-3, in Thursday’s second round match. After going three sets against Carla Suarez Navarro on Tuesday, Barty was able to beat the World No.89 in straight sets. However, it was not all easy for the Australian as most of her issues were self-inflicted problems. She lost serve three times in victory and racked up 33 unforced errors, including nine double faults. Barty, however, produced 33 winners and six breaks, which helped her to get the better off the Russian player.
“A few things didn’t feel quite right today. That’s half the battle in sport, is being able to find a way when it’s not feeling all that great,” Barty said after the match. “I felt like when my back was against the wall today, I was able to bring the good stuff. It just wasn’t quite there all the time. We have another opportunity to now go out on the practice court, work on it, try to bring some good stuff in the third round.
“[It was] not my best serving day. But that happens as well. I felt like I was just out of rhythm a little bit. A few technical things weren’t quite feeling spot on. But you have those days where some days you feel like you’re eight-foot-tall and can’t miss the box. Other days you feel like you’re three-foot-nothing, just getting over the net is a bit of a battle.
Barty is now hoping to find a way to sort out her issues ahead of the third-round match. “We just go back to work. Certainly nothing that will concern me over a longer period. We have those days. We just go back to kind of the routines that we usually would and try to find a way in the next match,” she added.
The Australian will next take on Katerina Siniakova for a place in the round of 16. Earlier, the unseeded Czech came from a set down to beat the returning former World No.9 Coco Vandeweghe, 4-6, 6-2, 6-2. “I try and approach every single match with the same mindset: that’s one that I go out there and try and play my opponent one-on-one,” Barty said.
“I try to bring my game style and play my game style as often as possible, knowing what their strengths and weaknesses are. I go to work with Tyz [coach Craig Tyzzer]. We work on a few things, talk about a few things. There’s nothing drastic that changes. It’s more how we like to approach how we go out there and play each and every match.”
