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Ash Barty is aiming for two titles at the French Open, joining forces in the doubles with Australian Open finalist Jennifer Brady.
Ash Barty will shoot for two titles at the French Open after the 2019 singles champion decided to resume her impressive partnership with Australian Open finalist Jennifer Brady in the doubles.
The fact that the Australian world No.1 has committed to two events is another indication that she's completely confident about her fitness after she retired from the recent Italian Open with an arm injury.
Evidently she's not daunted by the prospect of facing a 13-match schedule if she is to achieve the double over the fortnight in Paris.
If she were to win both in the same year, Barty would be the first player since Mary Pierce in 2000 to achieve the feat.
The Queenslander will set out on her quest to regain her Roland Garros singles title on Tuesday, when she meets American left-hander Bernarda Pera, the world No.70.
Barty has often sharpened her game by doubling up at big events, having won the US Open doubles title with CoCo Vandeweghe in 2018.
In April this year, she partnered American Brady to victory on Stuttgart's indoor clay straight after she'd lifted the singles crown.
The pair also teamed up in Melbourne at the Australian Open but their bid for victory was dashed when Barty felt it prudent to withdraw because of injury concerns after their first round win.
Barty and Brady, who are seeded 15th and look like a double act that everyone will want to avoid, will face Russian Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova and Kazakhstan's Elena Rybakina in the first round, Sunday's draw shows.
The Aussie-American friendship has blossomed during their time sharing a court, Barty explained in Stuttgart.
"I love spending time with Jen," she said.
"She's a good girl and we have a very similar sense of humour and it's pretty light-hearted when we're out on the court.
"Obviously, we're both competitors and we both want to do the best that we can to try and win the match but it is a lot of fun.
"There is a lot of talk that is non-relevant to the tennis match. We just enjoy each other's company."
When Barty joined forces with Victoria Azarenka at Roland Garros in 2019, they reached the last-16 before she went on to take her first grand slam singles crown.
