Although
Ashleigh Barty is a two-time Grand Slam winner, she has admitted to not being comfortable on hard courts, especially at the Western & Southern Open where she'll be competing this week.
The World No.1 has won
Roland Garros and
Wimbledon, but has never gone beyond the semifinal of a hard court major. With the
US Open around the corner, Barty will need as much match time as possible to get used to the conditions.
"This is a place where I’ve never quite felt 100 percent comfortable," said Barty on playing in Cincinnati. "But we’ve got New York right around the corner. This period of the year is always an enjoyable one, I can’t wait to get started back into some matches again.”
Despite lifting the trophy in Miami earlier this year, the 25-year old believes that the conditions in Miami are vastly different from that in Cincinnati.
"Miami was my last hard court tournament, and the conditions there are vastly different from here," admitted Barty. "It’s going to take some time to adjust, without a doubt. But we’ll just keep chipping away and try and get the best chance in each and every match.”