Barty not staying at Covid-19 hit Olympic Village on arrival to Tokyo

Ashleigh Barty will be one of the leading contenders for the gold medal at the Tokyo Olympic Games and has decided against staying in the athletes' village on her arrival in Tokyo.

Barty leads the field which also includes Naomi Osaka, Iga Swiatek and Aryna Sabalenka but without Bianca Andreescu, Victoria Azarenka, Serena Williams and Coco Gauff among others for varying reasons.

Read also

2020 Olympic Games Tennis WTA Entry List with Barty, Osaka and Swiatek (last update 18-07)

Fresh off her Wimbledon win, she has headed to Japan which has been put under a state of emergency with Covid-19 cases on site spiralling in the Olympic Village.

A likely factor in Barty touching base elsewhere and away from other athletes.

“Ash is staying elsewhere,” said Australia’s chef de mission Ian Chesterman.

“We have a number of athletes staying outside the village. We allow that, it’s just what works best for them.

“Something I’ve always been very big on is driving performance takes a whole lot of flexible decisions, flexible options.

“In terms of her performance plan, it’s best served by her being able to control her environment and we respect that.”