By Richard Pagliaro | Tuesday, March 23, 2021
World No. 1 Ash Barty launched what will likely be the longest road trip of her career with a wild two-day journey from Brisbane to Miami.
Photo credit: Lindsey Godwin/Miami Open
Parting can be painful.
Ashleigh Barty bid a wistful farewell to family and friends flying from Brisbane to Miami knowing she may not be back home until Christmas.
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The world No. 1 and coach Craig Tyzzer endured an arduous 45-hour trip from Brisbane to Miami that is the first leg of what may well be the longest sustained road trip of Barty's career.
Given the uncertainty over the pandemic, the 2019 Miami Open champion said leaving home was especially emotional this time because she doesn't know when she will be back.
"Yeah, it's an adventure for us. It's a new experience," Barty said in her Miami Open media conference today. "It's something that we haven't done before, Tyz and I. When leaving Australia, it was quite hard to leave and quite emotional to me. But I think we're excited to have the opportunity to play the whole season.
"So I think we're looking at staying away the whole season. Touch wood, everything goes well with the rest of the world, where we'll be traveling to and playing tournaments, we'll be able to play safely and feel really comfortable. I think we can't plan too far ahead. As we know, everything can still change so rapidly."
The 2019 Roland Garros champion's journey to South Florida was anything but rapid. Barty said a flight cancellation in Australia complicated and lengthened the trip.
"It was a long one. It was about 48 hours, 45 hours door-to-door, for us," Barty said. "What should have been quite a simple Brisbane-Sydney, Sydney to L.A., L.A. on to Miami is usually quite an easy trip. We had a fight cancellation leaving Australia, another fight cancellation when we got to L.A. It was quite a wriggle around.
"Now we're here. Tough playing tennis after traveling again. Quite a while since I've done that. I'm looking forward to feeling good in another day's time and we'll be ready to go."
Coach Tyzzer said Barty is considering setting up a base camp in Europe for the rest of the season.
"We're hoping that we'll set up some sort of base somewhere probably in Europe where we can at least switch off and relax and spend some time away from tennis, maybe a bit of golf for Ash" Tyzzer told Australia's 9News last month. "We're yet to finalize anything in that regard. But yeah, we're planning on being away for a while."
When the pro circuit resumed last August after a five-month break due to the Coronavirus pandemic, Barty opted to remain in Australia because she wasn't able to train with Tyzzer during the pandemic and had concerns about getting back home if she left. Consequently, she didn't defend her Roland Garros title.
Hall of Famer Martina Navratilova says location and lack of match play in recent months remain two of Barty's biggest obstacles in her efforts to defend Miami, which was not staged last year due to the pandemic.
"Ash was hamstrung by geography. She couldn't train with her coach, he was in another state," Navratilova said. "Rather than to come half prepared for the event, she chose not to play, which I think was the right choice. She looked pretty sharp in Australia, but not as sharp as the players that had played more matches. There's no substitute for that.
"Now, she played in Australia, although she didn't play Dubai and Doha again. I don't know how much has to do with any quarantine situation. Once she leaves, she can't get back into the country, et cetera. It's complicated. I think now when she's on the road, who knows when she'll get back home."
After she shakes off the jet leg from her marathon trip, Barty says she's eager to get back on the court.
"I think we're extremely excited to be back playing and have the opportunity to come out here and feel like we're in a very safe environment, to be able to play and enjoy what we do," Barty said. "It was certainly bizarre leaving Australia. We had quite a lengthy trip over here, had a couple flight cancellations. It turned out to be a near 50-hour trip to get here.
"Certainly not the easiest one getting over here. Nice to be back competing, doing what we love. Obviously a tournament we have so many good memories. This week for me a couple years was one of the best of my career where I played consistent tennis throughout the whole week."
Two years ago, Barty played brilliant tennis bursting through four consecutive games sealing a 7-6 (1), 6-3 triumph over Karolina Pliskova in the Miami Open final to claim her fourth career championship and first Premier title.
How will the top-seeded Aussie respond in her Miami return?
Tennis Channel analyst Navratilova, who is broadcasting on site in Miami, cites the surface speed and recent form in citing Australian Open champion Naomi Osaka as the Miami Open favorite.
"You have to give the nod to Osaka, winning Australia, having played those matches," Navratilova said. "And the court speed is medium-fast. That's allows her power to pay off more.
"Ash likes to run around the backhand more. The faster court doesn't give her that time to really do that. That's why I think she's done better on the slow surfaces, the way she plays. The slice stays low, she has more time to run around the backhand, set up her points. You have to go with Osaka."
After her long flight to South Florida, Barty is aiming to stick the landing in Miami.
"This week a couple years ago was one of the best of my career," Barty said. "I'm looking forward to hopefully bringing some of my best tennis again and giving myself a chance to play a few matches and really get stuck into the tournament."