Junior Wimbledon champion, a three-time Grand Slam doubles finalist and a stint as a top-flight cricketer all before the age of 20.
It’s a CV any gifted athlete has reason to be proud of, not that Ash Barty would ever come close to boasting about it.
Typically keeping expectations in check, the down-to-earth Australian was not getting carried away after winning her opening round Wimbledon qualifying match against China’s Jia-Jing Lu on Tuesday.
It was just a small step in her second coming as a tennis player, although the inroads made in her first three weeks back have already left an impression.
Things are different this time round. For now she is playing without the burdens of expectation.
“Absolutely, it’s just a different perspective now. It’s an absolute bonus for us to be here,” Barty said after the 7-6, 6-3 win.
“We never thought we’d be in qualifying of a Grand Slam third week back so it’s just nice to be ticking all the right boxes and actually getting a few results as well.”
Those few results have included runs through qualifying to reach the semi-finals and quarter-finals, respectively, of ITF grass-court events in Eastbourne and Nottingham. She has posted wins over Daniela Hantuchova, former US Open semi-finalist Shuai Peng and twice over dual Wimbledon quarter-finalist Tamira Paszek along the way.
Fair to say it has been beyond her early expectations.
“Oh absolutely. I mean I think we were looking to get a couple of matches in each tournament and to play I think 13 matches in under two weeks was pretty phenomenal so it’s nice to be accumulating the wins and playing some good quality tennis as well,” she said.
It’s just the beginning, there’s a lot more to do
Barty has been awarded a doubles wildcard into The Championships alongside Brit Laura Robson. Two more wins at Roehampton would guarantee a singles start.
Luksika Kumkhum is next. The Thai player upset Spanish No.15 seed Silvia Soler-Espinosa 6-1, 7-6.
“It’s not always easy coming back here coming through quallies but we’re very lucky to be here,” Barty said.
“The body feels good. It’s always different coming out and playing matches than it is training. Obviously we’ve only been on the tour again for a couple of weeks so it’s going to keep taking time to get my body completely where we want it.
“It’s just the beginning, there’s a lot more to do.”
In other results, No.3 seed Kai-Lin Zhang of China, was too strong for Czech Lucie Hradecka 7-5, 7-5 and No.4 seed Serb Aleksandra Krunic downed Dutchwoman Cindy Burger 6-1, 6-1.
American No.6 seed Lauren Davis had a 6-3, 6-3 victory over Lesley Kerkhove, of the Netherlands, while No.7 seed Paszek easiliy accounted for Frenchwoman Amandine Hesse 6-2, 6-1.
Czech No.14 seed Jana Cepelova was a 6-2, 6-2 winner over Slovak Ivana Jorovic, Chinese No.16 seed Ying-Ying Duan defeated American Grace Min 6-7(4), 6-3, 6-0 while Ukrainian No.22 seed Maryna Zanevska beat France’s Alize Lim 6-2, 6-1.
Dutch No.18 seed Richel Hogenkamp was not so lucky, falling to China’s Yafan Wang 6-3, 4-6, 6-0.
