Barty insisted she did not expect it, but the 6-3, 6-3 result emphasised her status as the nation's most exciting prospect since fellow Queensland prodigy Bernard Tomic. Both Barty and Dellacqua seem certain to feature in the main draw of next month's grand slam - if not through the wildcard on offer this week, then via the discretionary handouts that will follow.
''I was just coming in here to get a few more matches; I'm not really too fussed where I get into the tournament, I'm just out here having fun,'' she said. ''We didn't really have a game plan, so I was just out there seeing what would work and seeing what didn't, and I was just having a ball.''
''I know she has a lot of respect for Casey, she likes her as a person and respects her game, and she was in a situation where she probably didn't feel like she had a lot of pressure, and she could just go out and go for her shots. For her to go out and really believe that she could win was impressive, and then to back it up and do it was great, but she's young, and still learning.''
While Dellacqua was one of several seeded losers in the women's draw, from which only the top player in each round-robin group will advance to the semi-finals, the top eight in the knockout men's competition received byes into today's second round. Wimbledon boys' champion Luke Saville eliminated Chris O'Connell in three sets and next plays fifth seed James Duckworth, while No. 2 Marinko Matosevic meets Sam Groth, who is back from injury.
