SYDNEY – World number one Ashleigh Barty on Monday pulled out of this week’s Sydney Classic after opening her season by winning the singles and doubles titles at the Adelaide International.
The 25-year-old’s name was scratched from a revised draw with local reports saying she needed to recover from her Adelaide exploits, with the Australian Open starting in one week.
Barty demolished Kazakhstan’s Elena Rybakina 6-3, 6-2 to claim the 14th singles title of her career on Sunday then returned to win the doubles with Storm Sanders.
It was Barty’s first tournament in four months, since a shock third-round loss at the US Open in September, after which she opted to remain in Australia because of the pandemic.
But the reigning Wimbledon champion…
