Euro trip, Paris rendezvous will be 'fresh start' for Barty

PARIS • As Ashleigh Barty prepares for the start of Roland Garros on May 30, she insisted on Monday that she does not regard herself as the defending champion.

The Australian won her only Grand Slam singles title in Paris in 2019 but did not defend her title last October, opting to stay home amid the Covid-19 pandemic, as Polish teenager Iga Swiatek, 19, became the youngest women's winner in 28 years.

"It's a long time since I've played at the French Open," Barty said in a teleconference call from Stuttgart ahead of her first match on European clay in almost two years. "It's a fresh start, a fresh start for everyone at that event."

She received a bye to the second round and will kick off her round-of-16 match today. After Stuttgart she heads to the clay in Madrid and Rome before Roland Garros.

Despite skipping much of last season, Barty is still world No. 1, but she remains cagey about her form, with victory at the Miami Open earlier this month followed by a quarter-final exit at Charleston.

She said: "There have been times I've felt I've been in great form, but haven't been winning matches and vice versa.

"Other ones when I haven't been able to find anything close to the middle of the racket but you find a way through matches. It's important not to be completely results driven when you're thinking of your form."

She took an extended break last year to avoid travelling during the pandemic, opting to also give the US Open a miss, but expects a full calendar of events this season.

"Part and parcel of travelling is being comfortable away from home or as comfortable as you can be," she said.

"Obviously I'm a homebody. I love being at home with my family. I love what I do. I'm extremely grateful for the opportunity to do what I love in the current situation in the world."

Meanwhile, Dominic Thiem has revealed that he is struggling with pandemic-related "emptiness", but plans to return to the clay courts in Madrid early next month once his knee pain dissipates.

Since winning his maiden Slam at the US Open last year - the first Major claimed by one of the sport's new generation of players - the world No. 4 has shown mixed form, with no ATP Tour titles since Flushing Meadows.

Admitting to Austrian newspaper Der Standard the closed-door matches and movement controls had gotten to him, Thiem said: "In preparing for this season, I fell into a hole. There is a certain emptiness, though it's not dramatic."

The Austrian has not played for a month, withdrawing from Miami, Monte Carlo and Belgrade because of a "small issue with my knee" but is aiming to make his comeback in Madrid next month.

Twice a losing finalist in Paris, Thiem will be one of the biggest challengers to Rafael Nadal at the French Open and he also intends to compete at the Tokyo 2020 Games "if they take place".

AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE

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