Chrissie Evert believes Ashleigh Barty has the varied gears in her game to win Wimbledon.
The Hall of Famer questions if the new world No. 1 has enough gas in the tank to capture her second straight Grand Slam title.
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Barty backed up her run to her maiden major at Roland Garros bursting to the Birmingham title with her 12th straight win. Barty became the first Australian woman to seize the No. 1 ranking since Hall of Famer Evonne Goolagong in 1976.
Former No. 1 Evert says Barty's career-changing run could leave her depleted at The Championships, which begin on July 1st.
"At some point it's got to be overwhelming, and she's a human being," Evert told the media in a conference call to promote ESPN's exclusive first-ball-to-last Wimbledon coverage starting July 1st. "At some point. So that's what I'm saying.
"I mean, it would be so impressive if she won Wimbledon. She has the game. She has the athleticism, the variety. I just kind of wonder when the tank is going to start to get a little bit empty, both physically and emotionally. So it's going to be tough. I mean, the more tournaments she wins, it's going to get tougher and tougher because at some point you have to have a letdown after these big wins.""
Barty's serve precision, slithering slice backhand, superb net skills and soft hands all play well on grass. The Aussie won the 2011 Wimbledon girls' title at the age of 15.
If Barty can summon the stamina, Evert believes she has the skills to raise the Rosewater Dish, but calls the mission a "herculean effort" given the historic highs of her winning run.
"She's got a great grass court game," Evert said. "I think she loves the grass. I think it's interesting that her parents were scheduled to come over for the grass court season, not for the clay court season. Look what happened.
"I think it would be like a herculean effort if she won Wimbledon, to have won the French, to have won the warmup tournament."
Evert says Barty will likely feel the bulls-eye on her back in her first Grand Slam as world No. 1, but asserts the Aussie can turn top-spot pressure right back on opponents as she tried to do during her 260-week reign as world No. 1.
"You feel it," Evert said of the added pressure. "I used to feel more alert being No. 1 because I knew everybody was after me, and that would probably be the biggest win of their career, because to beat a No. 1 player is always the biggest win. So I was always alert to it.
"And also when I walked out on the court, I had a positive outlook. Instead of being nervous about it, I thought to myself that they might be a little intimidated. I'm No. 1, I've deserved it, I've had the best record, I'm playing well, and maybe they're going to be the ones that are intimidated, and I felt like at times that gave me a little edge.
"So I think it's how you approach being No. 1, and I think different players approach it differently."
Photo credit: Fila