Roger Federer's advice for Ash Barty ahead of Australian Open

Brendan Bradford

Roger Federer's advice for Ash Barty ahead of Australian Open image

Ash Barty won her debut Grand Slam and became the year end world number one, and Roger Federer says her next task is to learn how to play as a front runner. 

Barty will enter next week's Australian Open as the number one seed, with the added pressure of playing in front of an adoring home crowd. 

The 23-year-old suffered a shock second round defeat to American Jennifer Brady at the Brisbane International last week and will finish off her preparations in Adelaide against the likes of Simona Halep, Angelique Kerber and Sloane Stephens

Federer, who could be playing his last ever Australian Open, says the next step in Barty's career is to become comfortable with the pressure of being the best player in the world. 

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"She doesn't need to break through anymore - for it's just a matter of can she defend," Federer said this week. 

"Because that's a different mindset.

"To some extent it takes more pressure wanting to do that, but at the same time it can also relax you."

Although there are added pressures and expectations of being the number one ranked player in the world, Federer said that position also offered some unique opportunities. 

"You can really explore all the potential you have," he said.  

"That's what happened to me when I won my first major, or broke through as world number one for the very first time. 

"After that I thought I'm the guy to beat. I prefer to be in this position than the contender.

"I hope that Ash is also going to see it that way." 

Barty's next match will be against Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova in the second round at the Adelaide International on Tuesday. 

Barty is 2-3 against Pavlyuchenkova, most recently beating the Russian world number 31 in three sets in Wuhan in 2018.

If she advances to the quarter finals, Barty will likely play either former US Open champion Sloane Stephens or rising star Marketa Vondrousova.

Meanwhile, fellow Aussie top seed Alex de Minaur has withdrawn from the Adelaide International, citing an ongoing abdominal injury after a busy ATP Cup schedule over the past week. 

 

Brendan Bradford