Australian tennis legend Rod Laver says Ashleigh Barty will be "a tough lady to beat" at Wimbledon in July as he and fellow great Margaret Court heaped praise on the new French Open champion.
Barty's 6-1, 6-3 thrashing of Czech teenager Marketa Vondrousova in the Roland Garros final propelled her to number two in the world and Laver said she had all the attributes to win on grass, a surface she favours over clay.
"There are some other big girls out there that are big servers and have good ground strokes but Ash is tenacious, has a good drop shot, good angles, good anticipation," Laver, who was in Paris to witness the final, told the Sydney Morning Herald.
"I really think she'll be a tough lady to beat."
"She would drop away and maybe think, 'This game is too tough to play'. But now everything she hits is perfect."
"She can hit through the ball. She can slice, volley, she's got a good serve and smashes well. There's an all-round game. There's not a weakness there."