MIAMI: World number one Ashleigh Barty is preparing to spend the rest of the season on the road as she prepares to defend her Miami Open title this week in her first overseas appearance since the pandemic.

The 24-year-old from Queensland elected not to travel outside Australia after the WTA Tour resumed last year, skipping both the US Open and the rescheduled French Open at Roland Garros in September.

The Aussie got a taste of international travel in the age of coronavirus when her journey to the United States ended up taking nearly 50 hours.

“It was a long one,” Barty said Tuesday. “It was about 48 hours of door-to-door. We had a flight cancellation leaving Australia, another flight cancellation when we got to L.A. It was quite a wriggle around.

The women’s field in Miami was deprived of a star name on Sunday when Serena Williams withdrew from the tournament as she recovers from oral surgery.