ASH Barty has looked the goods this week in Cincinnati following a surprise loss at the Tokyo 2020 Olympics, and did not show an ounce of nerves as she blasted past giant-killing wildcard Jil Teichmann, 6-3 6-1 to claim the 2021 Western and Southern Open trophy.

A tight start to the first set saw neither player give an inch and very little chance to break serve with only minor errors giving points away. But it was the world number one who was able to break first, leading 4-3 and not stopping there as she wrapped up the first set. Barty then raced away to a 5-0 lead in the second before Teichmann was able to recover a game back, breaking the Australian on serve before Barty recovered to clinch the victory. As such, Barty became the first Australian to clinch the title in 48 years.

Teichmann had the run of her career to make it to the final, but the world number one was relentless, putting a stop to the Swiss’ momentous 4-0 run against top 10 players. With eight aces to her name, 28 winners and a clean 85.7 per cent win rate off her first serve, Barty never looked like slowing and only faced two break points throughout – saving one, and only broken towards the end of the match. While Teichmann registered just five more unforced errors, she hit just 12 winners.

“Today against Jil, I feel like I was able to really trust myself and play with confidence, get after the ball, be aggressive and get a bit of a run on, which was going to be important in a big final,” Barty said. “I think we’re just excited that we’ve got matches under our belt in tough conditions here in Cincy, and that’s put us in really good stead going into New York.”

This trophy makes it five titles for Barty in 2021, who will now have a week off ahead of the US Open starting on August 30.

WESTERN & SOUTHERN OPEN FINAL RESULT:

[1] Ash Barty (AUS) defeated [WC] Jil Teichmann (SUI) 6-3 6-1

Elsewhere, a couple of WTA 250 events in the Tennis in the Land and Chicago Women’s Open got underway, with the first day of Round of 32 action shaping up. In Cleveland, the Tennis in the Land tournament saw just three matches play out with the big upset  of the day seeing third seed Russian Ekaterina Alexandrova fall to Romanian Irina-Camelia Begu. Fifth seed Nadia Podoroska had little issues taking down American Bernarda Pera, whilst the final clash saw Pera’s compatriot Caty McNally outlast a tough Anna Danilina in three, requiring just over two and a half hours to dispose of the Kazakh 7-6(4) 5-7 6-4.

In Chicago, seeded results were similar with a loss going the way of fourth seed Slovenian Tamara Zidansek who fell in three to Russian Varvara Gracheva, while eighth seed Ukrainian Marta Kostyuk required just 77 minutes to claim a  6-0 6-3 victory over Canadian wildcard Katherine Sebov. In other games, Jasmine Paolini, Kaia Kanepi and Francoise Abanda earned a second round berth, with the remaining clash between Rebecca Peterson and Marie Bouzkova suspended.

TENNIS IN THE LAND ROUND OF 32 RESULTS: 

Irina-Camelia Begu (ROU) defeated [3] Ekaterina Alexandrova (RUS) 7-6 6-3
[5] Nadia Podoroska (ARG) defeated Bernarda Pera (USA) 6-2 6-4
Caty McNally (USA) defeated Anna Danilina (KAZ) 7-6 5-7 6-4

CHICAGO WOMEN’S OPEN ROUND OF 32 RESULTS:

Varvara Gracheva (RUS) defeated [4] Tamara Zidansek (SLO) 6-3 1-6 6-2
[8] Marta Kostyuk (UKR) defeated Katherine Sebov (CAN) 6-0 6-3
Kaia Kanepi (EST) defeated Anna Kalinina (UKR) 3-6 6-2 7-5
Jasmine Paolini (ITA) defeated Misaki Doi (JPN) 6-4 6-2
Francoise Abanda (CAN) defeated Danka Kovinic (MNE) 6-4 6-2
Rebecca Peterson (SWE) leads Marie Bouzkova (CZE) 7-6 0-1 SUSP

Picture credit: Getty Images / Dylan Buell