Ashleigh Barty enters the main round of the French Open; courtesy a wildcard – Tennis News
Australian booming starlet, Ashleigh Barty, has been rewarded for her classic showdown in the qualifiers of the previous Grand Slam tournaments and awarded a wildcard entry in the main round of the Roland Garros French Open, starting
in the last week of May.
It is another landmark in the career of 16-year-old Barty, as she will the youngest player in the main round of the French Open in women’s category. It will be her first ever major clay court appearance and she looks to take full
advantage of the trust that is shown in her abilities.
After knowing the big news on Tuesday, she was interviewed by the local media representative in Australia and she replied, “I'm thrilled to compete in the main draw of the French Open for the first time and test my game against
the world's best." She was also the standout performer in the wildcard playoffs for the Australian Open and won the main round berth by ousting several seeded and superior ranked players.
She started her New Year campaign in qualifying rounds of the Brisbane International and faced a defeat in the first match at the hands of the American tennis ace, Vania King. She was deprived of her first professional elite tournament
appearance; however, her performance impressed the officials of Moorilla Hobart International tournament and they allotted her the wildcard into the main draw of the tournament.
Barty lost her first professional match at the hands of the Bethanie-Mattek Sands in the opening round in Moorilla and her first round exit in the Australian Open lowered her morale. However, she is still too young to take any
sort of pressure; in fact she is ahead of all her age fellows who are still playing the junior tournaments at the moment.
In the juniors’ category, she has grabbed two titles in a row including Sydney and Mildura, this season, and lost the final of Ipswich to the eighth seed Pole, Sandra Zaniewska. It will be interesting to see her performance at
the clay courts. She has another opportunity to catch the limelight and hit the headlines once again. Only if she manages to win the first round match at the French Open, she will become the youngest player in the history of sport to have reached the second
round of the Grand Slam tournament.
All Aussie fans have their eyes on her and she holds the expectations of a continent. She will be under the cosh but her first miracle upset can yield a lot of rewards.
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