Local legend Ash Barty is set to reclaim the World No. 1 title when the US Open wraps up. This would make her the first Australia woman to end the year as world number one. In other words it’s been a bloody solid year for the Queenslander.
[jwplayer bGO1zRES]
Despite crashing out in straight sets on Monday, Barty will officially regain the title on Monday following defending champion Naomi Osaka‘s loss to Switzerland’s Belinda Bencic 7-5, 6-4 in the fourth round at the US Open.
Osaka, current world number one, will most likely slip to the No. 3 spot according to the experts.
Barty became the world number one after winning the Birmingham Classic in June, and sat on the throne for a cool eight weeks. She claimed her maiden grand slam at the French Open just a short time earlier, becoming the first Australian woman in 46 years to win at Roland Garros.
She is only the second Aussie woman to top the WTA rankings since her hero, Evonne Goolagong-Cawley, achieved the feat 43 years ago in 1976.
Speaking to the press in New York earlier this week, Barty said “it would be incredible” to become the second Aussie tennis player to top the year-end rankings. Hewitt was the first to do it in both 2001 and 2002.
At the time the 23-year-old said she didn’t know the exact numbers to get there.
“I haven’t really sat down and done the maths or anything like that,” she said. “But I have had my schedule planned for the last part of the year for the last few months, so that certainly won’t change.”
Meanwhile, Barty and her doubles partner Victoria Azarenka just progressed to the quarter-finals at the US Open after knocking out 15-year-old (!!!) Cori Gauff and Caty McNally. The pair absolutely schooled Team McCoco 6-0, 6-1, defeating the Americans in just 47 minutes. Brutal.
👯♀️👊🏽🙈 https://t.co/dN9fvDQJqK
— Ash Barty (@ashbarty) September 2, 2019
