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Barty's coach in awe of her Wimbledon run

3 minute read

Ash Barty's long-time coach Craig Tyzzer says his world No.1 charge continues to amaze him with her resilience and class after making the Wimbledon final.

ASHLEIGH BARTY of Australia.
ASHLEIGH BARTY of Australia. Picture: Scott Barbour/Getty Images

Even Ash Barty's trusted coach has been left in shock and awe at her extraordinary run to the Wimbledon final after a harrowing build-up and no grass-court lead-in matches.

Craig Tyzzer says Barty constantly blows him away with her ability to fight back and defy the odds despite spending more time off the court in the past 16 months than on it.

First, the world No.1 won her opening tournament back in February after an 11-month COVID-19 layoff.

Then she reached the Australian Open quarter-finals before adding two more titles to her growing collection while amassing a tour-topping 34 wins so far for the year.

Now Barty is the first Australian woman since Evonne Goolagong Cawley in 1980 to make the Wimbledon championship match, despite having been in doubt for the tournament right up until its start with a hip injury.

"I'm constantly surprised," Tiley said after his charge delivered a 6-3 7-6 (7-3) semi-final masterclass against 2018 champion Angelique Kerber.

"Yeah, look, nothing's a given in this sport. Tennis is pretty fickle in nature, as the French Open showed.

"So if you take it for granted, you get sort of lost a little bit, so everything's a blessing in a lot of ways.

"To come from where she's come in the last month or so, to get to where she is now, I'm constantly amazed."

Tyzzer felt Barty was in the form of her career before breaking down during the third round at Roland Garros last month.

But while the setback thrust the 25-year-old into a race against the clock to be fit for Wimbledon, Tyzzer suspects that Barty avoiding a potentially gruelling workload by making a second French Open final may have helped her Wimbledon prospects.

"We had played a lot of tennis. Even though I felt like she was underdone coming into the grass, she had played a lot of tennis from the start of this year and through the clay season, probably more than she has ever played on clay before," Tyzzer said.

"So matches wise, it was actually good for her and she has all of that in her mind and all the feeling in her body and how she has played under pressure moments and played big points."

Barty has a 5-2 winning record over power-serving Czech Karolina Pliskova but has had to fight back from a set down in her past two victories over the former world No.1 and 2016 US Open runner-up.

"It's always a battle," Tyzzer said.

"(Pliskova) is capable of blowing you off the court. She's an incredible server. She's got such a big game. She still covers the court pretty well for a tall girl of that size, but such a good ball striker."

Subduing the tour's ace leader with her clever chip returns will be key for Barty against a credentialed opponent who has only been broken four times in six matches these championships.

"You've got to try and neutralise that part of her game, and that power," Tyzzer said.

"If Ash can get her teeth into (Pliskova's) service games, and hang onto her service games, she's certainly in the contest.

"She's had some results against her but I really think Karolina is playing really well on the grass again. It's going to be tough."

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