By Chris Oddo | Thursday June 9, 2016
Ashleigh Barty has produced a quarterfinal results in her first tour-level event since 2014.
Photo Source: LTA
With her six-month foray into professional cricket behind her, Australia’s Ashleigh Barty is going about the business of resurrecting her tennis career.
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The world No. 623 booked a quarterfinal slot at the Aegon Open Nottingham on Thursday, edging out Andrea Hlavackova, 6-0, 4-6, 6-4. It’s Barty’s first tour-level quarterfinal since 2013. In fact, it’s only the second quarterfinal of her career, and she’s playing her first tour-level event since 2014, when she decided to step away from the sport. "It's nice to know that I can still play at this level,” said the 20-year-old, who is also a three-time Grand Slam doubles finalist. “It was going to be touch and go at the beginning but it is nice to be straight off the bat and back into it.”
Barty says she has no regrets about leaving tennis for a bit.
"I really enjoyed my eighteen months at home,” she said. “I met some really nice people through cricket and it was a fantastic experience. It was Six months, I played a season. Nothing forced me back into playing tennis by any means. I felt like it was the right time. It was completely my decision. My family and close friends and the people around me were supporting me one hundred percent.”
Barty hit 11 aces and saved five of seven break points to book her victory over Hlavackova in one hour and 35 minutes.
Second-seeded Johanna Konta fell victim to the upset bug on Thursday as she fell to China’s Zheng Saisai, 6-4, 7-5. The British No. 1 suffered a pelvic injury in the process, but elected to trudge on after seeing the trainer early in the second set.
Konta led 4-2 in the second set, but the 22-year-old Chinese stormed back to clinch the upset. Zheng improves to 3-0 against the Top-20 this year. She has also notched wins over Petra Kvitova and Angelique Kerber.
Austria’s Tamira Paszek and British qualifier Tara Moore also advanced on Thursday in Nottinhgam.