When the legendary Australian champion Evonne Goolagong Cawley was growing up in Barrellan, a wheat town in New South Wales, she read a cartoon story about a place called Wimbledon, where there was a magical arena known as Centre Court. The nine-year-old dreamed of becoming a champion there one day, and in 1971, when she was just 19, that dream came true. Half a century on, Goolagong Cawley remains an inspirational figure to indigenous Australians – not least Ashleigh Barty, the world No 1, who would dearly love to commemorate the golden jubilee of her friend and mentor’s triumph with a victory of her own.
To do so, Barty will need to play a great deal better than she did in her 6-4, 6-3 win over the 89th-ranked Anna Blinkova. It was a strangely subdued display from the top seed, littered with uncharacteristic mistakes and missed opportunities. A nervous start set the tone for a performance that included nine double faults and 33 unforced errors. By the end, you had to wonder whether all the talk of emulating Goolagong Cawley and her legacy was not adding to the pressures facing a player who has yet to provide conclusive evidence that she has recovered from the hip injury that forced her out of the French Open.
Few players are more open in the interview room than Barty, but the Queenslander offered an unusually terse response to an enquiry about whether her struggles on serve might be down to her recent hip problems. “I feel fine, it was just not a great serving day, so certainly not something that I’m going to blow out of proportion,” she said. On the subject of Goolagong Cawley and her legacy, Barty, whose Wimbledon outfit is a tribute to the dress worn by the former champion in 1971, was more forthcoming.
“From when I was quite young, I learnt about the way that she played the game of tennis,” said Barty, who will play the 64th-ranked Czech Katerina Siniakova in round three. “I think probably when I first met Evonne, when I was 13 years old, was when I began to really understand the impact that she had on peoples’ lives outside of tennis. I met her in Brisbane one day when we were talking about her foundation and all of the things that she was doing off the court, and of course that led to more curiosity of how she played the game and to more curiosity of how she’s impacted people since she’s retired, and her legacy that she left after her tennis.
“It’s a legacy of opportunity in my opinion. The way that she approached her tennis and approached her matches here at Wimbledon, it was a courageous stepping into the unknown. There was no one that had done it before her from our heritage, and for her to be able to be the first one to pave that path was really showing that, no matter what anyone says, you can go out there and believe in your dreams.”
Barty’s dreams of a senior Wimbledon title to go with the junior crown she won a decade ago were never seriously threatened by Blinkova, whose energy and enthusiasm were not always matched by the quality of her tennis. The 22-year-old nonetheless displayed admirable composure on her Centre Court debut. Having elected to serve first, Blinkova took time to steady herself between points and refused to be overawed by either the occasion or her feted opponent.
It was the perfect platform to capitalise on a ragged start by Barty, who served three double faults to concede her opening service game. The world No 1 recovered the break immediately but continued to look out of sorts, spraying errors as she allowed Blinkova, herself a former junior Wimbledon finalist, to recover from 0-40 down in the fifth game. Barty would eventually end the set with 18 unforced errors. Her erratic play continued into the second set, where an early break was cancelled out by an eighth double fault before Barty finally took control.
“It was a tough one, there were a few things that didn’t feel quite right today,” said Barty. “But that’s half the battle in sport, being able to find a way when it’s not feeling all that great. When my back was against the wall today, I was able to bring the good stuff, it just wasn’t quite there all the time.”
It is a feeling that Elina Svitolina, the third seed, will know only too well. The Ukrainian lost her second-round match 6-3, 6-4 against Magda Linette, the 44th-ranked Pole against whom Barty retired at Roland Garros, and afterwards cut a disconsolate figure.
“Mentally, for sure, I need to reset,” said Svitolina, a semi-finalist at the All England Club in 2019. “When you play a grand slam, it is all of the time a lot, different kind of pressures. Sometimes it’s tough to handle, but it is part of the job, it’s part of the grand slam. You have to be strong, try to be good to yourself and try to overcome the fears, the difficulties. Today probably I was not fresh mentally to do that. I have been on the tour for years now and been in different kind of situations. But right now I wouldn’t say it’s very smooth times in my career. For sure, it’s a tough time, but I have been in these situations in my career a few times.”
Svitolina, who was seeded to meet Barty in the semi-finals, becomes the highest-ranked casualty in the women’s singles following the defeat of Sofia Kenin, the fourth seed, who lost to her compatriot Madison Brengle on Wednesday, and fifth seed Bianca Andreescu, who lost in desultory fashion to Alizé Cornet of France, also on the third day. Next up for Linette is Paula Badosa of Spain, the 30th seed, who eased past Yulia Putintseva of Kazakhstan 6-4, 6-1. Coco Gauff beat Elena Vesnina 6-4, 6-3 on Centre Court and will play Kaja Juvan in round three after the Slovenian defeated Clara Burel, a French qualifier, 6-3, 6-4.
Barbora Krejcikova, the French Open champion, defeated Andrea Petkovic of Germany, 7-5, 6-4, while Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova, the losing finalist at Roland Garros, eased past Kristyna Pliskova of the Czech Republic, 6-3, 6-3.
Angelique Kerber, the former Wimbledon champion, won an extraordinary match against Sara Sorribes Tormo of Spain, who saved a match point in the second set before Kerber prevailed 7-5, 5-7, 6-4 in three hours and 18 minutes.