Throwing off the burden of 44 years of history with a little help from the crowd, Ash Barty rose to the occasionThe cameras follow her every move, close to 100 lenses all expertly trained almost singularly on the star of this show. Court-side, the photo pit is full to the brim, its occupants either sat on chairs or crouched on their haunches, each with their assigned sliver of space through which to document their protagonist.Ash Barty stands at the baseline, steals a quick glance up and over the net towards her waiting adversary, then bounces and tosses the ball. Most photographers capturing what they see work for different publications but the process is always the same: bodies lean slightly forward...
The world No 1 is enjoying the pressure of attempting to become first home winner of the Australian Open for 44 yearsHome pressure is a concept of legendary status at the Australian Open. Just ask Sam Stosur. Or Lleyton Hewitt. Or Pat Rafter. Each and every year a new number is added to the same statistic. As long as 1978 gets a mention the picture is painted, the inglorious drought of Australia’s players at their home grand slam once again wrenched from the history books and hoisted about as high as that trophy might be had anyone actually won the thing recently.Being 2022, it is now 44 years since Christine O’Neil did, on grass, at Kooyong. Ash Barty, of course,...
The 35-year-old has surprised Australian Open watchers even more than himself as he has fought for his shot at a 21st slamRafael Nadal lays down his towel, spreads it across two parallel courtside advertising boards. He gently tugs at the near corners to ensure it is taut. Then looks at it again, pulls the far right-hand corner just a little. He squinches his face and surveys the symmetry, pats it with his hand. Content, he turns on his heels towards the baseline, ready for his serving ritual.In the quarter-finals against Denis Shapovalov, Nadal completed his shirt-tug, hair-tuck, face-wipe routine 146 times. He won 100 of those points on his first serve over the course of five sets, in four hours...
Joe Root weighed in with his verdict after the Ashes defeat but England’s nurturing of Test batters should be scrutinisedEngland in Australia: anatomy of a shellacking. The reviews are in. The play-by-play reports have been filed by those closest to this sullen and lifeless Ashes tour. Two things stand out.Firstly, the startling mediocrity of so much of the basic management. There is no question, if only in the spirt of making the deckchairs look nice while the prow of the ship slides into the north Atlantic, that heads must roll, even if just in the name of keeping up appearances. Continue reading...
The pandemic, a lack of preparation and a fine Australia team are all fair mitigation yet England’s muddled selections, fitness issues and abject batting suggest a deeper malaiseDay four in Hobart was one of potentially beautiful batting conditions, the sun shining down on the Tasmanian state capital as the ferries pootled in and out of Brooke Street Pier on the shimmering harbour and tourists wandered around Salamanca Square with barely a care in the world.Unfortunately for England’s cricketers the Ashes series was already over, with their surrender of 10 for 56 under lights the previous evening at Bellerive Oval for a 4-0 defeat leaving two days of soul-searching before the flight home. There were a couple of escapees, at least....