Barty is seen as Australia's best hope to end its long wait for a first home-grown women's champion.
Former world number one Venus Williams produced a vintage display to outclass Netherlands' Arantxa Rus in straight sets and storm into the second round of the Yarra Valley Classic.
The 16-times Grand Slam champion, who has been slightly ill lately, was kept on his toes before racing to victory to set up a meeting with seventh seed Stefanos Tsitsipas.
Andy Murray recovered from a slow start to beat Argentine qualifier Juan Ignacio Londero
IMAGES from Day 2 of the US Open played at Flushing Meadows in New York on Tuesday.
But after those events, Federer will take a training break, the paper reported.
Sofia Kenin said that the experience at Roland Garros changed her career trajectory.
Jennifer Brady spent two weeks in hard quarantine gathering mental strength for her tilt at a maiden Grand Slam title and will hope there is plenty in reserve when she takes on Naomi Osaka in Saturday's Australian Open final.
Barty survived a first-round scare at the US Open on Monday
IMAGES from Day 2 of the Wimbledon Championships from the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club, London, on Tuesday.
'I felt comfortable knowing that I just needed to change a few things, to adjust, to try and bring the match back in my favour'
Roger Federer said he was happy with his preparation at home.
Venus Williams has pulled out of the upcoming Brisbane International after suffering a 'setback' in training
Serena Williams fuelled talk of a dream-team partnership with home favourite Andy Murray after declaring her availability for the Wimbledon mixed doubles.
Penpix of the top women's contenders at the 2021 Australian Open
The hard court, outdoor competition in Lexington, Kentucky, marked the WTA's first tournament in the United States since the coronavirus outbreak forced almost all sport into a long break earlier this year.
Holder Elina Svitolina will face world number one Ash Barty in the end-of-season WTA Finals showpiece on Sunday after they got past Belinda Bencic and Karolina Pliskova respectively in the semi-finals at Shenzhen Bay Sports Centre.
The circuit agreed last year an extension to cover this year's race, which was held in August and without spectators due to the COVID-19 pandemic, after fears it would drop off the calendar.
New York Governor Andrew Cuomo said the USTA would take "extraordinary precautions" to protect players, including robust testing, additional cleaning, extra locker room space and dedicated accommodation.
Images from Day 5 of the 2021 French Open, in Paris, on Thursday.
It has been 24 days since Victoria reported a locally acquired COVID-19 infection, while Australia as a whole posted a 13th straight day without a community case on Saturday.
Ash Barty's bid to end the host nation's long wait for a homegrown Australian Open champion will begin against Ukraine's Lesia Tsurenko
Australian Open holder Djokovic will make his ATP Cup debut for Serbia against South Africa in Brisbane on Saturday while Nadal will lead Spain into action against Georgia in Perth on the same day.
Nadal set to face Kyrgios clash in second round
He leads the men's seedings ahead of defending champ Roger Federer, with Bulgarian Grigor Dimitrov seeded third.
Novak Djokovic extended his unbeaten start to the season to 15 matches as he swatted aside German veteran Philipp Kohlschreiber 6-3 6-1 with ease on Wednesday to reach the Dubai Tennis Championships quarter-finals.
Images from Day 7 of the 2021 French Open at Roland Garros in Paris on Saturday.
Images from Day 6 of the 2021 US Open in New York on Saturday.
Murray was made to fight for two hours and 52 minute
American Jennifer Brady defeated compatriot Coco Gauff 6-2, 6-4 at the Top Seed Open on Saturday, earning a spot in her first WTA final.
American Sofia Kenin counter-punched her way back from a set down against Garbine Muguruza to win her first Grand Slam title at the Australian Open with a 4-6, 6-2, 6-2 win in Melbourne on Saturday. The 21-year-old Kenin, seeded 14th at Melbourne Park, converted her second matchpoint against the twice Grand Slam champion, who double faulted on the final point, to end an engrossing contest that lasted more than two hours.
Garbine Muguruza outclassed former finalist Simona Halep in straight sets to enter the final of the Australian Open in Melbourne on Thursday. Meanwhile, Sofia Kenin sent world number one Ash Barty spinning out of the Melbourne Park semi-finals 7-6, 7-5 on Thursday, crushing Australian hopes of a first home-grown champion at the Grand Slam in 42 years. The 21-year-old Kenin showed her frustration at times, throwing her racquet on court, but managed to hang in and saved three breakpoints to hold for 3-3 and eventually force a tiebreaker.
Serena Williams sounded a warning for her fellow Australian Open contenders with a sleek win
Halep's near-flawless display at the All England Club marked a spectacular return to form after her world ranking dropped from first to seventh between mid-January and July.
Simona Halep finds the prospect of 14 days of quarantine ahead of the Australian Open daunting
The professional tennis circuit, which requires players to jet around the world, was forced into shutdown in early March as countries went into lockdown and closed their borders to contain the spread of the novel coronavirus.
That is Murray's 46th ATP title.
Australia's Alex de Minaur fought back from a set down to beat former world number one Andy Murray
Coco Gauff claimed the biggest win of her young career on Friday with a stunning upset of defending champion Naomi Osaka at the Australian Open to reach the fourth round. Caroline Wozniacki and Serena Williams also lost their respective matches earlier in the day. Images from Day 5 of the Australian Open played at Melbourne Park on Friday.
Images from Day 8 of the 2021 US Open in New York on Monday.
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