Australia

Ash Barty claims Cincinnati title in perfect US Open warm-up



Australian world number one Ash Barty has won her fifth WTA Tour title of the year with a 6-3, 6-1 victory over Switzerland’s Jil Teichmann in Cincinnati.

Barty didn’t drop a set all week as she romped to the 13th title of her career in one hour, 12 minutes.

“It was so nice to play out in front of you again,” Barty said on court.

“I’ve seen so many smiling kids enjoying tennis. You genuinely reminded me of how much I loved this sport.

“Thank you so much for coming out and making it such a joy for us players.”

Teichmann, despite being ranked world number 76 and featuring as the lowest-ranked Cincinnati finalist for 13 years, had already stunned Olympic champion Belinda Bencic, world number two Naomi Osaka and Wimbledon finalist Karolina Plíšková on route to the final.

The athletic left-hander reckoned she would “go for it” against Barty, but found the Queenslander too hot to handle as Barty toyed with the Swiss’s serve, breaking her on five occasions.

Barty, with the help of eight aces which took her tally for the week to a tournament-leading 42, reeled off eight games in a row after the pair shared the first six games.

Teichmann finally dented Barty’s serve, breaking off her first break points of the match as Barty served for the match at 5-0.

Yet the reprieve was short-lived as a Teichmann forehand, clouted wide, gave Barty the first singles triumph by an Australian woman at Cincinnati since Evonne Goolagong in 1973.

It was Barty’s 40th match victory of the year and took her record in finals to 5-1 in 2021 — her only defeat coming at the hands of Aryna Sabalenka in Madrid.

Barty has lifted titles in Melbourne, Miami, Stuttgart, Wimbledon and now Cincinnati.

Teichmann, who has now hopefully put her crippling injury woes behind her to demonstrate that she could well go on to join the elite, was full of praise for Barty.

Barty responded in kind: “First of all, Jil, what a week, mate! This is where you belong with your level and it’s so nice to see you play your best tennis this week.”

Pointing to her trophy, she added: “I know over the next few years, you’ll win many of these.”

The victory extended Barty’s WTA Tour streak to 12 matches through her Wimbledon triumph and this event as she prepares for the US Open, which gets underway in a week’s time.

Barty will be looking to claim her first title at Flushing Meadows and third grand slam overall after winning the 2019 French Open and 2021 Wimbledon titles.

ABC/AAP



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