Starting again at the 2021 Australian Open

Sofia Kenin

At the Australian Open, No. 1 Ash Barty is finally ready to go. She has been healthy, but in 2020, she pulled out before Roland Garros, Wimbledon and the US Open. She did not want to get on the plane because of coronavirus had struck in March, and she was scared.

Months later, in the fall, she was itching to play again because she loves it, and she also missed her the WTA friends.

”I feel like I’ve done all the work,” Barty said. “I feel like we’ve ticked the boxes and I’m feeling like every single year we continue to develop my game and it’s better and better. Obviously I haven’t played competition tennis for a year now, so it’s going to be a challenge. But, we also know that hopefully again it will be a long season and we don’t have to panic.”

Bianca Andreescu is healthy again aftershe suffered a knee injury in 2020 after she won the 2019 US Open. Like Barty, Andreescu says she’ll return in January at the Australian Open. “I am feeling really good about the progress I’ve made during my time off.”

The Canadian has a lot of strokes, she is very mighty and impulsive. She just have to be healthy because it is almost that she is starting again.

One year ago, Sofia Kenin in Melbourne began to hit the ball like a cannon shot. She was secure and she kissed the strings. She beat Barty and Garbine Muguruza to win it all at the age of 21. She grew up.

“I definitely feel like I’m a top player, and I’ve proven it. I had a lot of physical points [in my matches], so fitness was No. 1 , and just trying to keep my game strong and try to improve it,” Kenin said.

Here are five others who can all win the 2012 Australian Open: Naomi Osaka, Simona Halep, Serena Williams, Iga Swiatek and Karolina Pliskova. The first four have won a major, but not Pliskova, who has come so close in the second weeks at the Slams. She can crush the ball, but she just dreads the end. Karolina: Become serene.