MELBOURNE – Native daughter Ashleigh Barty’s run at her homeland Slam came to an end—not with a bang, not with a whimper and, of course, not with a grunt. In their third-round match, 72nd-ranked Naomi Osaka broke Barty’s serve in the opening game and maintained a composed handle on the throttle, winning it 6-4, 6-2.
For the third consecutive match at this year’s tournament, the 18th-seeded Barty was matched up against an exceptionally forceful baseliner. There’d been an opener versus Aryna Sabalenka, she of the oversized, intrusive grunt that hopefully will at some point come under control. Then had come the mercurial Camila Giorgi. In both those matches, Barty had rallied from a set down.
Alas, the residue of those two highly physical efforts greatly hindered Barty versus Osaka. The texture and variety of Barty’s tennis is usually quite apparent. But on this occasion, the snap, crackle and pop required to pull it off was, to continue the cereal analogy, rather soggy.
Osaka fed off Barty’s fatigue. But even more than showing the firepower that commanded attention when she first arrived on the scene, Osaka also showed maturity. When you can hit the ball that hard, there’s little reason to aim too close to the lines. Instead, Osaka delivered on a message often articulated by Tennis Channel analyst Paul Annacone: hit an aggressive shot to a conservative spot.
Serving in the first set at 4-3, 15-30, Osaka won three straight points in composed fashion: a solid overhead winner, forceful groundstrokes that elicited a netted backhand and then the capper, a 115 mph wide ace. Seeking to close it out at 5-4, Osaka again showed improved poise when she rallied from 15-40 to win the game and take the set in 38 minutes.
In the second, Osaka once again commenced with a service break. When at 0-2, 30-40, a weary Barty struck an approach shot right down the middle, Osaka handily drove a backhand down-the-line winner. Insurance break in hand, Osaka rolled through the second set. All told, she’d struck 24 winners to 13 for Barty. And though Barty, a superb volleyer, was 11 of 13 at the net, the Aussie made 22 unforced errors.
One hopes these two play one another for years to come. A fresh Barty conjures up the ecstatic experience of watching such players as Justine Henin and Evonne Goolagong. Though Barty lacks their elegant one-handed backhands, her willingness to explore all areas of the court, to offer an array of chips, dips, rips and dashes, along with a superb service motion, offers much stylistic solace. Yes, in the contemporary pro world, it’s possible to play all-court tennis.
Osaka offers an interesting mix. In many cases, a player’s tennis game is an extension of her personality. But Osaka is overtly assertive and downright expressive with her racquet, in conversation she favors a stealth brand of humor.
“You have to use your brain to get it,” Osaka about her comedic gestalt. “It's also, like, sarcastic-y, like out of nowhere, like boom.”
Having lowered the boom on Barty, Osaka is now in the round of 16 of a major for the first time, set to play world number one Simona Halep on Monday. Given the energy Halep had to expend to subdue Lauren Davis, coupled with Osaka’s smooth win over Barty, the match should be quite compelling.
Read Joel Drucker and Nina Pantic on TENNIS.com as they report from the Australian Open, and watch them each day on The Daily Mix:
