After two years away Australian tennis darling Ash Barty has finally made a return to the place where her career changed forever.
It was 2019 when Ash Barty announced herself to the world by winning the French Open.
A 6-1 6-3 victory over Czech RepublicтАЩs Marketa Vondrousova handed the Australian her first ever grand slam title, along with millions of new fans around the world. A cool $AUD3.6m prize packet to boot made that win extra sweet, too.
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Electing not to defend her title in 2020 due to the Covid-19 pandemic, Barty is seeking to sit atop the Roland Garros throne once again and put further distance between herself and world No. 2 Naomi Osaka when she returns to the red dirt of Paris.
After two years away from the scene of her greatest tennis achievement to date, Barty is back. She uploaded a number of photos to Instagram of a practice session at Roland Garros, with the simple caption of тАЬHello friendтАЭ.
Barty was looking determined as ever, but still had that trademark smile splashed across her face.
Barty has been in fine form leading up to this yearтАЩs French Open, Barty has looked as good as ever. A victory at the Stuttgart Open in both singles and doubles was followed by an appearance in the final of the Madrid Open, holding the world No. 1 in good stead for her charge in the French capital.
Retiring in the quarterfinals of the Italian Open due to an arm injury caused a minor scare, but the tennis superstar looks fit and ready ahead of the upcoming grand slam, which begins on May 30.
Barty may be on the other side of the world but she wonтАЩt be feeling homesick. Taking to Instagram on Friday night (AEDT), the Queenslander showed off a gift box sheтАЩd received to ensure she doesnтАЩt go wanting for any of her favourite home-grown treats.
тАЬWhen the ultimate care package is waiting for you in Paris,тАЭ she captioned the post, complete with a love-heart eyes emoji.
In the care package were: Vegemite and cheese Shapes, Vegemite, Milo, Cadbury Caramilk Marble chocolate and Merlo coffee.
BartyтАЩs dietitian might not be impressed to see her scoffing down too many of those treats before a major but what better way to celebrate a second French Open win than with some of AustraliaтАЩs favourite snacks.
Barty maintained her world No. 1 status when the updated rankings were released last week as Iga SwiatekтАЩs victory at the Rome Open saw the Pole enter the top 10 for the first time in her career.
