Amazing how so much is written on these boards about how incredible Andreescu is and very little credit given to Barty.
It's obvious what a wonderful talent Andreescu is with the power and variety she has and the wonderful future she has. Yes she has had some injuries and whether that is because of fitness, anatomical deficiencies of just bad luck, time will tell. The women's tour needs her and the game she possesses so we all wish her well.
But it just seems like Barty is dismissed as a not so talented player who gets lucky when the draw opens up during tournament runs or Covid intervenes and once again she is deemed "lucky" to still be number 1 in the rankings and so on.
I think that because she is not the most powerful player with the heaviest strokes on the tour, or the quickest mover, or has the most variety, or so on, she is discounted. Fact is, she does most things very well and with a minimum of fuss.
She doesn't obviously blast opponents off the court but dismantles their games. She slices and dices, she probes and manipulates, changes the tempo and her ability to think on the run, to work it out, to come up with a plan B during a match is well known. Those tactical adjustments throughout a match are not as obvious as suddenly blasting groundstroke winners but they are just as effective as her results have shown.
And her power is underrated. Barty took most of 2020 off because of the pandemic and only got into serious training around October. This coincided with the decision to ditch the full poly setup and implement a gut/poly hybrid, ostensibly to get more power into her game.
I think it's quite apparent that her lack of play in 2020 and the shift to a different string set up contributed to her somewhat indifferent performances through the Australian summer and even now is not completely resolved.
It is noticeable that her serves and groundstroke game have more power than previously but at a cost of slightly more inconsistency. It will be interesting to watch her game moving forward and whether her evolving game can keep her at the top of the rankings.
I really look forward to seeing her at Wimbledon where her game will make her a big threat, although her winning the French two years ago showed she is no slouch on the clay.
Anyway, kudos to Ash, well done, well deserved - and isn't it great to see a top level player barely make a sound on the court! No grunts, no shrieks, no histrionics, no disrespect, no excuses. Well done.
