|
Barty reached the semi-finals at Melbourne Park
for the first time last year before sitting out most of the rest
of the season at home because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
The 24-year-old remains Australia's best hope of singles success
when the year's first Grand Slam starts on Feb. 8 but Barty
urged her compatriots not to get their hopes up.
"They can think whatever they like. If they expect me to win the
tournament, then that's their expectations," Barty told the
Australian Associated Press on Saturday.
"But mine certainly aren't that for now. It's about doing the
right things right from the start, from the very first match. If
it's good enough, it is. And if it's not, it's not. But that's
OK."
Barty last played a tournament match at the Qatar Open last
February, deciding to remain at home in the relative safety of
Queensland rather than travel to New York for the U.S. Open or
to Paris for her French Open title defence.
"Obviously I haven't played competition tennis for a year now so
it's going to be a challenge but we also know that hopefully
again it will be a long season and we don't have to panic if we
don't get the perfect start," she added.
"We'll just try and go out there and do the best that we can and
whatever happens will happen. I feel ready to go and I'm just
itching to get started."
Barty did not need to quarantine before the Australian Open and
will play an exhibition event in Adelaide on Friday before
returning to Melbourne for the Grand Slam.
(Reporting by Nick Mulvenney; Editing by William Mallard)
[© 2021 Thomson Reuters. All rights
reserved.] Copyright 2021 Reuters. All rights reserved. This material may not be published,
broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
Thompson Reuters is solely responsible for this content.
 |
|
