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Barty starts grasscourt season with win

Ashleigh Barty started slowly but reeled off impressive second and third sets to advance to the second round in Nottingham.

The Ashleigh Barty resurgence is continuing on one week after her and doubles partner Casey Dellacqua lost the French Open final.

Barty started her tournament slowly, dropping the opening set to German world No.92 Tatjana Maria before rallying to break Maria twice in the second set and rout her in the third for a 4-6 6-3 6-0 victory in Nottingham.

The win has booked Barty a second round battle with 20-year-old Croatian qualifier Jana Fett.

Should the 21-year-old Australian win that then she would likely face top-seeded Brit Johanna Konta in the quarters, who back on the grass, cruised to victory over fellow Briton Tara Moore.

Konta was leading 6-2 3-0 when Moore retired hurt and she will play Belgian veteran Yanina Wickmayer in the second round.

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Konta, serving strongly and redirecting the ball well, faced just one break point herself - by contrast, Moore delivered 10 double faults, many at crucial stages.

Visibly struggling with a leg injury, the 24-year-old called a medical time-out after falling behind a double break in the second set, and conceded the match shortly afterwards.

American sixth seed Shelby Rogers was the first major casualty at the tournament, losing 6-4 6-3 to Croatia's Donna Vekic.


2 min read

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Source: AAP


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