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AUSTRALIAN OPEN

January 14, 2017

Ashleigh Barty

Melbourne, Victoria, Australia

THE MODERATOR: Questions, please.

Q. How exciting is it for you to be back in a Grand Slam event?
ASHLEIGH BARTY: Yeah, it's especially nice to be back playing the Australian Open. I mean, it was strange walking around here last year and not playing, sort of watching everyone get ready. It's definitely nice to be back.

Q. Are you walking around with a smile on your face or game face?
ASHLEIGH BARTY: A bit of both. I'm not sure I have much of a game face as it is.

No, it's exciting to be back. Can't wait to get out there on Monday and hopefully play well.

Q. How are you feeling physically? There was a little bit of shoulder trouble in Hobart. How is that tracking?
ASHLEIGH BARTY: Really good. So it was definitely the right decision for us to sort of give us a few days just to get ready. We're feeling fully fit and ready to go. Yeah, we're ready for Monday.

Q. How do you prepare for Monday when you don't know right now if you're morning or night or afternoon?
ASHLEIGH BARTY: The preparation for us is the same. I think, come Monday, if we're playing at night, then we'll adjust accordingly. But for the moment, our preparation is the same knowing that we play Monday.

We still did the same stuff today. We'll do what we need tomorrow and get ready to go on Monday regardless of when we play.

Q. Do you know much about your opponent?
A. We've seen a little bit. But I've never played Annika before. We just need to sit down and watch a little bit of vision. I'm sure a few other Aussies have played her before.

Yeah, we just go about our business. I think for us it's important just to play the game style we want to play, focus a little bit more about myself and less on her.

Q. Just on the schedule, you'll be on Hisense during the day. Quite a few screaming Australians. What goes through your mind when you think about that?
ASHLEIGH BARTY: That's perfect. There's nothing quite like playing at home. When you have a big crowd, it's even better. Hopefully it can be full.

Q. Physically, how are you different from last time you played in this tournament?
ASHLEIGH BARTY: I feel a lot different. I think I'm much more mature this time around and know what to expect and how to prepare better. I'm just excited to go out there and hopefully play well and the result will take care of itself.

Q. You're coming back to nearly a year into your comeback. Are you surprised at the level you are?
ASHLEIGH BARTY: Yes and no. We've done a lot of work to get to this level. Obviously, it would have been nice to play a few more tournaments. We've been a bit restricted to how many we could play. We're sitting in a good spot. We've played a lot of quality matches. I think that's the most important thing, especially to start this year off. We've played four good matches. It's prepared us well. I think we're ready to go for Monday.

Q. Previously you had a lot of of success in doubles. What's the focus this time around, singles or doubles?
ASHLEIGH BARTY: Still both. I can't wait to get out on the court with Case. It's going to be a hell of a lot of fun going out there with her. Hopefully it's going to be the same thing, get a lot of support behind us. We've had good success here. It's where it all started for us. It's exciting to know I've got a mate out there with us. Hopefully we can go deep in the tournament.

Q. Did you ever have any doubts as to whether getting back would happen?
ASHLEIGH BARTY: I think the doubts were when I stopped last time. When I had my little bit of a break to refresh mentally. I think that was the best time for me.

Since we've been back, it's been perfect. We've worked really hard on the court, but I've enjoyed every moment of it with both my Coach Craig and my fitness trainer ^ Norel. Practically it's been amazing. We've worked hard for this spot now. Hopefully we can get the job done on Monday.

Q. Do you take a lot from your performance against Angelique Kerber recently?
ASHLEIGH BARTY: Definitely. I think it was nice to know we were competitive in that match right from the get-go. It's just nice to know that the work we've done has paid off, and that we're really in with a shot against the world's best players.

Hopefully we can play well on Monday and just see what happens.

Q. You mentioned a bit more maturity this year than last time. How does that help you preparing for a Grand Slam game like this?
ASHLEIGH BARTY: I think I've just had more experiences. Last time I played the Australian Open, I was still quite young. Obviously everything was new to me. I was still learning the ropes a little bit. Now I feel like I've been there and done that a little bit, know how to prepare, sort of get myself ready a bit more.

Q. How did it look to you back then?
ASHLEIGH BARTY: Sort of the bright lights and everything, all the focus is on you. I think now I would separate that a little bit more and go out and just play the match that we want to play, whether we're on a backcourt up in my home down in Brissy or down here on center court. Doesn't matter. We just do what we want to do, hopefully we can come away with the right result.

Q. What are your expectations here at this tournament?
ASHLEIGH BARTY: I just want to play well, to be honest. Play well and stay healthy through the first couple of weeks. That's pretty much the same for the whole year. If we do that, the results will take care of themselves one way or the other. I think it's important for us that we're still reasonably fresh into playing again. We've only been striking the ball for 10, 11 months. It's important for me to still see this as a development year and see how far we go.

Q. Is there a rankings goal for this year?
ASHLEIGH BARTY: Obviously I think if we can play a full schedule and stay healthy and do all the right things, there's nothing stopping us from being inside the top hundred. Obviously that depends a lot on how you play through the year and see if you can stay healthy as well.

Q. Keeping one eye on the BBL?
ASHLEIGH BARTY: Absolutely. The girls were playing today and got a win, which was nice. It's obviously nice to have that group of girls now getting an interest in tennis, as well. Definitely keeping an eye on the WBBL.

FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports

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