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WESTERN & SOUTHERN OPEN

August 16, 2019

Ashleigh Barty

Cincinnati, Ohio

A. BARTY/M. Sakkari

5-7, 6-2, 6-0

THE MODERATOR: Questions, please.

Q. You looked to be in command in the first set 5-2 and it got away from you. What happened there, and how were you able to rebound in the second set?
ASHLEIGH BARTY: Yeah, I think I was doing all the right things to get to 5-2 and then played a little bit of a sloppy game on my serve at 5-3 and let Maria back in and she got super-aggressive and kind of asserted herself in the middle of the court, changed her court position.

Yeah, I think then for me it was going back to basics and then just kind of working on depth first and foremost to try and shift court position a little bit more. Then, yeah, I think I changed some of my tactics back to what was working in the first place. Yeah, pretty pleased with today.

Q. When you win the second set, do you allow yourself any negative thoughts or get frustrated at all, thinking, wow, I could have been off the court already, or are you able to just regroup again and go right back into the third set?
ASHLEIGH BARTY: No, not at all. There is no time for that. There is no space for those kind of negative thoughts to come in. It is what it is. We split sets and it was about kind of starting that third set well to keep the roll on that I had earned and the momentum I had gained during that second set.

Q. How dose do you think you are to kind of your best level on hard court right now?
ASHLEIGH BARTY: Still not quite there, but we're getting better and better each match. I think that's the beauty of being able to stay alive in the tournament is to give myself an opportunity to keep getting better.

You know, I think I'm still aiming to obviously do very well here, but the big picture is New York in 10 days' time. Hopefully I'll be ready to go for that.

Q. Do you think these tough matches, these last two against challenging opponents, are a benefit?
ASHLEIGH BARTY: Absolutely.

Q. More so than kind of easy wins through the draw?
ASHLEIGH BARTY: Oh, I don't think there is such thing as an easy win anymore. I think each match presents its own set of challenges.

Over the last two days I have had some unique ones I have had to overcome, and I think that's the best thing is we have come out the other end on the good side of some tough challenges. We're alive still in the tournament with a chance to come out tomorrow and try and improve.

Q. For the most part, your second serve today was outstanding. Is that something you've been consciously working on or has it just evolved?
ASHLEIGH BARTY: Oh, I always continue to work on my second serve. I try and pride myself on being able to look after my own service games and at times trust my serves to get me out of some sticky kind of positions, I suppose.

Yeah, I trust myself, I trust my serve. Some days I don't have great serving days and it's still not feeling quite right, but it's certainly getting better.

Q. Without fail, you refer to all of your accomplishments, be they good or bad, through a plural "we" rather than "I." Can you tell us where that came to be? Is that something that was always natural for you or you learned something along the way that gave you that perspective on your career?
ASHLEIGH BARTY: Oh, I think a little bit of both. I'm very lucky to have the team that I have around me. I'm certainly very quick to remember that they're the ones that have been with me over the last three-and-a-half, four years of building back into my tennis career.

They have supported me along the whole way. Every little bit of success that I get is, you know, just as much theirs as it is mine, I think. I'm just very grateful and appreciative that they're able to spend their time and invest so much time and energy into my career, as well.

Q. You have been using the phrase "no panic stations" quite a bit over the past couple of weeks. It doesn't look like you have been entering any sort of panic zone in these matches either. Reflecting back, do you remember the last match you played where maybe things got a little bit sticky and there was a little bit of a panic in match?
ASHLEIGH BARTY: Oh, I think -- I mean, there is probably a little bit of panic in every match, in a way, but I certainly wasn't very comfortable yesterday (smiling). I wasn't overly comfortable today after that first set, and I think more than anything it's a frustration of a few times where I have let the match slip and kind of let my opponent back in and then just unique situations every single match.

But there is certainly no panic where it gets to the stage where I'm kind of, you know, overwrought or can't think straight. I'm still able to, more than times than not, have the ability to relax and kind of stay clear and come back to what works.

Q. I'm curious about something. Is there anything you learned as a professional cricket player that you have been able to bring back over into tennis?
ASHLEIGH BARTY: Not really, no. No, it's a different sport.

Q. Probably the other way around?
ASHLEIGH BARTY: Different sport, yeah.

Q. After you missed a first serve at some point you mimicked a cricket shot with your racquet. Just wondering if you have any particular shot you're rehearsing? Cover drive, a straight drive?
ASHLEIGH BARTY: No, it was a pretty average one, whatever it was. Yeah, I was pretty pissed off the way I was serving, to be honest.

I mean, I was probably lining up a ball to go over cow corner, but I thought I'd better not hit it out of the stadium. No, I just kind of backed out of that.

Q. You dropped only two points on your last four service games and again three aces in the third. Consciously looking to clean up the serve considerably in the third or going for the aces?
ASHLEIGH BARTY: Oh, no, I think I just had to continue to hit my spots. I haven't been overly pleased with the way I have been serving just in how my rhythm has been, but at times when I have needed it my serve has been there.

I think it's getting better and better with each match. It's not quite where I would like it to be just yet, but, yeah, it's certainly moving in the right direction.

FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports

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