For any player who hails from a nation with a home grand slam, it is an incredible achievement to live up to the pressure of the local crowd, beat the betting odds, and take down your maiden home slam. That was exactly what Ash Barty managed to do at
the 2022 Australian Open, as she dismissed her opponents in ruthless fashion, eventually coming good for all those tennis wagerers who use special online deals to back her. Now the question is whether Barty can turn this great start to the year into a period of sustained dominance on the WTA Tour, so she can write her name into the history books alongside some of the greats of the game, while dominating the odds lines and tipster columns.
Still Only 25-Years-Old
At the age of 25 it feels like Barty has been around forever on tour. In reality she has probably not even reached her peak. With three grand slams already under her belt, the sky really is the limit for this diminutive player, who is benefitting from the downfall of previously established big names like Serena Williams and Petra Kvitová.
A True All-Court Player
One of the things that really gets tennis fans excited about Barty is her ability to go deep in elite level tournaments no matter what surface they are being played on. This is evident in the fact she has already won the French Open on clay, Wimbledon on grass, and now the Aussie Open on sweltering hard courts.
The only grand slam that is something of a banana skin for her is the US Open, where at the time of writing she has only ever managed to reach the 4th round. The way she dispatched a whole host of American foes in Melbourne will give her confidence that she can improve on her Flushing Meadows record in 2022.
Well-Rounded Athlete
Another reason why many tennis experts believe Barty could go on to dominate the WTA Tour is that she has proven herself to be a natural athlete; able to switch codes to pro cricket for a time, before then returning to the courts to reign supreme. Few pro athletes ever manage to do such a thing, and her returning to tennis shows that she is now very much here to stay.
