Ashleigh Barty hopes to embark on a pre-grand slam roll after posting her first win of the summer in a welcome boost to her Australian Open prospects.
Barty's hard-earned 6-3 6-4 victory over Paraguayan qualifier Veronica Cepede Royg on Monday at the Sydney International was a much-needed reversal from her scratchy first-round loss last week in Brisbane.
After a phenomenal 2017 campaign, in which she soared more than 250 spots in the rankings, Barty badly needed a win to kick-start the new year after misfiring in a straight-sets defeat to Lesia Tsurenko in her home-town season opener in Brisbane.
That defeat has likely cost her a vital top-16 seeding at Melbourne Park, and another loss on Monday would hardly have filled her with confidence entering the season's first grand slam event.
Instead, the world No.19 next faces Sydney wildcard Ellen Perez, ensuring at least one Australian in the quarter-finals and guaranteeing Barty more all-important match practice.
"Today was a little bit better than last week and hopefully we can get a little bit better with the next match and hopefully have a few more here before we go to Melbourne," Barty said.
Being Australian No.1 heading into the Open is a new experience for Barty, but one the 21-year-old says she's embracing.
"I feel fine. I feel great," when asked if she was feeling any pressure under the added spotlight.
"No, I think it's amazing to come into a summer as Aussie No.1, but I think in my eyes, Sam (Stosur) has set the tone and set the bar for so many years - and set the standard, really.
"I hit with Sammy a couple days ago in preparation for this tournament. It was perfect just to get out with her.
"It's pretty special coming in as Aussie No. 1, but it certainly doesn't add any external pressure - only pressure I put on myself."
After taking the first set comfortably at Olympic Park's Ken Rosewall Arena, Barty needed to pull out all stops in the second as Cepede Royg threatened to extend the contest.
From 3-1 up, Barty fell in a hole and needed to save two break points to avoid falling behind 5-3.
After steadying, the 21-year-old broke the South American in the ninth game of the set before closing out the match with a seventh ace after one hour and 25 minutes.
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