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SYDNEY INTERNATIONAL

January 9, 2018

Ashleigh Barty

Sydney, New South Wales, Australia

A. BARTY/E. Perez

7-6, 6-1

THE MODERATOR: Questions, please.

Q. So tonight, probably a tough first set and things went well in the second, but talk through the first.
ASHLEIGH BARTY: Yeah, I think for me the polish isn't quite there still, but, you know, we were able to get through that first set. And I felt probably all but one service game I actually played all right and was in every single game.

I think, you know, I just had a bit of a strange game at 5-3, I think it was. Yeah, but it was certainly nice to be able to sort of click gears in the second and sort of run away with it in the end.

Q. Is the polish in practice, just not in the match court, or is it kind of everywhere? Where are you feeling there are a few rough edges?
ASHLEIGH BARTY: Yeah, I think probably everywhere. It's just obviously a switch of mentality coming into the season after having such a big season, the down time of preseason/offseason, and then coming back into matches.

But I think the beauty is I get the chance to play another match tomorrow to try and fix things that we're after. We're not far off. I think it might just click in the middle of a match and I go, Oh, you know what? I feel great.

So as I said, the beauty is we are here to fight another day and to get an opportunity to play another match.

Q. Do you feel the momentum building now after a couple of wins now?
ASHLEIGH BARTY: Yeah, it's definitely nice to get a couple under the belt, now we have such a massive fortnight coming up. It's nice to be able to tick a few things along and get the ball rolling in the right direction and sort of get some wins earlier in the year.

Q. You worked on a few extras afterwards on your serve? Is that something you wanted to do?
ASHLEIGH BARTY: Oh, after some matches we just go out and work on a few things. I just wanted to work on my rhythm and just hit my spots a little bit more in serve. Probably only hit 35 or 40 serves after the match, but, yeah, I just said to my coach, Let me jump off. We'll just grab a box of balls and go out for 10 minutes.

Q. Even this late at night you're willing to work?
ASHLEIGH BARTY: Yeah, absolutely. I think there's no better opportunity. The courts are free. Obviously I had just come off the court. I was warm and ready. Instead of me worrying about it overnight, I can go home now and know that I've done my work. The boxes are ticked for today and then come back tomorrow.

Q. A pretty solid day for Aussie women. Jaimee over in Hobart and a couple of Aussie matches today. What's your kind of take on the state of Aussie women's tennis?
ASHLEIGH BARTY: Yeah, as we said, it was sort of strange to have an Aussie match happen and an Aussie match happen and another one tomorrow. I think it's just showing the depth we have now. It was just Sam and sort of Casey for so many years.

Now it's nice to see these young girls, girls a couple years younger than me who I've known for a long time, coming through and getting an opportunity. Yeah, obviously it's great. It's very tough playing other Aussies, especially in Australia. I think rankings go out the window when you play countrywomen. Yeah, it's certainly tough.

Q. Speaking of which, next up for you, what do you make of the next match for you?
ASHLEIGH BARTY: Who do I play?

Q. Oh, did I confuse it? You're not playing Dash?
ASHLEIGH BARTY: No, Dash and Sam play. I actually don't know who I play.

Strycova? Yeah, another tough one. Honestly it is. Barbora's going to make me play a hell of a lot of balls. I think the way that I'm feeling, I'm going to go out there and hit a lot of balls and hopefully, touch wood, find my rhythm and find my confidence and that polish that I'm after.

Extremely tough matchup. I'm going to have to work hard and be switched on from the get-go.

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