Former No. 1 Barty stays stuck at second place going into US Open

Ashleigh Barty isn't at the top of the rankings or the top of her game going into the US Open.

The 23-year-old would have been the No. 1 seed if she had reached the final of Cincinnati, but she fell against veteran Svetlana Kuznetsova in the semifinals and will go in as No. 2 instead.

Still, Barty did beat Maria Sharapova and Anett Kontaveit in Cincinnati, getting her first wins of the hard-court season.

“A week that we battled through,'' Barty said. ''I think at times I played some good stuff. At times, I played some pretty awful stuff.

"We have learned a lot from this week, and we have kind of nothing but positives going into New York.”

The Aussie was ranked No. 1 until just a couple of weeks ago, reaching the top spot following the best run of her career—she won her first Grand Slam at the French Open, following up with another tournament victory in Birmingham and the fourth round at Wimbledon.

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She'll get another chance to re-capture her form with an exhibition this week at the ATP event at Winston-Salem with teenage sensation Cori "Coco" Gauff. That will be before going to Flushing Meadows, where she reached the fourth round in 2018.

"I'm just really excited. I don't know her as a person, so I'm excited to get to know her," Barty said. "I'm excited to hit some balls against her."

And while she won't be holding No. 1 coming into the US Open, she will have the experience of having won a Grand Slam. Her French Open victory has shown her that she can succeed at the top level, and also the way she has to play to succeed.

"Obviously when we play our best tennis, I think we can do damage in tournaments and be at the latter stages of tournaments," she said. “I think for me it's important to try and bring in my variety as much as I can, make sure I move well.”

Naomi Osaka will be the top seed at Flushing Meadows.