Effectively-rested Barty’s match at Cincinnati delayed by rain

MASON, Ohio (AP) – A long layoff was no problem for Ash Barty. She has this year’s Wimbledon championship to prove it.

She hopes to be able to respond to a further delay.

The second round game of front runner Barty at the Western & Southern Open on Tuesday was postponed after two rain delays totaling five hours postponed the schedule on the second full game day. The match against qualifier Heather Watson would have been her first action in more than three weeks since her first-round defeat at the Tokyo Olympics.

Barty began her run at Wimbledon after sidelining for five weeks with a hip injury sustained during her second round match at the French Open. The Australian sailed through the draw at the All England Club and only lost two sets – in both the tiebreaker and the final – when she won her second Grand Slam title.

Since then, Barty’s only competitive game was her defeat in Tokyo.

Barty, who was traveling to the Bahamas with her team to train for the Olympics, was looking forward to the tournament this week, if only to get used to playing on hard courts in the hot, humid conditions that those it will likely be suspended at the upcoming US Open.

“I think I’m looking forward to going back to hard courts and trying to somehow find some rhythm and groove that feels like I haven’t played hard courts in a long time,” says Barty sadly. “To be honest, I mean, Miami (in March) was my last hard court tournament and the conditions there are very different from knocking out here and getting the best chance in every game.”

Barty, who received a bye in the first round, said ahead of the tournament that she was still working on her Wimbledon title.

“I think I was still trying to understand in my head what we were able to achieve as a team and especially the adversity we went through between the French Open phase and through Wimbledon,” she said. “I think we still haven’t got together as a team and really talked it through. I think this is going to be a really fun conversation that is likely to generate a lot of laughter and a lot of our good times. I think this will be an important part of my year if we actually get the chance.

“Right now I’m excited to have another chance to play here in Cincy, come to New York and play there.”

Among the first-round winners on Tuesday were two-time Grand Slam winners Simona Halep and Coco Gauff in the women’s category, as well as Grigor Dimitrov, a former men’s champion in Cincinnati. In the second round, Gauff meets second-placed Naomi Osaka.

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