ASH Barty and Elise Mertens will head into the Australian Open undefeated after claiming WTA Tour 500 crowns yesterday. As part of the new Summer Series at Melbourne Park, Barty took out the Yarra Valley Classic in straight sets over Spain’s Garbine Muguruza, while Mertens won the Gippsland Trophy thanks to a 6-4 6-1 victory over Estonian Kaia Kanepi.

Barty’s win in particular was made all the more amazing by the fact it was her first tournament in almost 12 months after opting to sit out the 2020 season post-March given the global pandemic. The Australian managed to retain the world number one spot, and then has run all the way to a title leading into her home Grand Slam. She won 7-6 6-4 in a tight contest against last year’s Australian Open runner-up.

“It was some of the better tennis I played throughout the whole week,” Barty said post-match. “Garbiñe forced me to play at that level. It was a great final.”

The world number one hit 28 winners to Muguruza’s 14, slamming home 11 aces and looking every bit the Grand Slam winner she was prior to the lockdown.

“Today I had to try and neutralise as best I can, then get on the front foot as soon as I could,” said Barty. “It’s not always just about the tennis sometimes, it’s about how you can control the court.

“I felt like I moved great today and was able to squeeze the court a lot of the times, make Garbiñe press a little bit, which was an important part of the match.”

Meanwhile Mertens won her sixth career WTA Tour singles title with her straight sets win over veteran Kanepi. Coming close to another title twice in 2020 – including runner-up in her last tournament for the year at Linz – the Belgian was finally able to taste success with a commanding win.

“The first tournament I played this year, so I’m very happy about the result, the way I played,” Mertens said post-match.

The match was easier than their last encounter at Roland Garros where Mertens had to fight through three sets to get the win, and now her second consecutive win over the 35-year-old meant she moves to 2-1 in the head-to-head battle between the pair.

Mertens hit 19 winners to 14 and was able to break four times in a superb performance ahead of the year’s first Grand Slam.

“[Kanepi is] definitely a big hitter,” Mertens said. “When the first serves go in, you have to make the returns to let her play. That’s what I did. I didn’t give a lot of free points, so that’s always good against her. You know, get that one ball back, let her play the game, get the balls back, but also try to, if you have the chance, attack.”

The other WTA Tour tournament which took place was the Grampians Trophy, seeing both semi-finals going to third set tiebreaks. Sixth seed Estonian Anett Kontaveit came from a set down to defeat Maria Sakkari 2-6 6-3 11-9, while unseeded 20-year-old Ann Li knocked off higher rated compatriot Jennifer Brady in an epic three-set three-tiebreaker effort.

Li won 7-6 6-7 10-6 to advance through to what would be her maiden final, except there will not be a final. While it means neither can grab a title, it does mean they head into the Australian Open in form having won against higher ranked opponents.

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