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CHINA OPEN

October 6, 2019

Ashleigh Barty

Beijing, China

N. OSAKA/A. Barty

3-6, 6-3, 6-2

THE MODERATOR: Questions, please.

Q. Talk through the match, the way you saw it.
ASHLEIGH BARTY: Oh, I think it was a decent match, as well. It was a high-quality match. I think there were times where I was really doing the right things, and it came down to a little bit of execution.

Certainly proud of the way we were able to kind of fight and hang in there right until the end in tough conditions, in sterile conditions. It's never easy playing a pure ball-striker. Tougher to get it out of Naomi's hip pocket.

All things considered, it was a bloody good effort tonight.

Q. Going in, looking at the matchup, we all thought the slice was going to cause issues for Naomi. How did you find that matchup? When was the slice effective and when did you find she was able to neutralize?
ASHLEIGH BARTY: I think in these conditions and playing at night, and with how cold it was today, I think the slice was nullified kind of a little bit. It just didn't have the same zip off the court, the reaction off the court.

In saying that, it was still a shot that I was going to go to. I still got a few cheapies out of it. It was something I needed to chip away at. I wasn't far off. I was probably, what, I missed a point at 15-30, which could have turned into a 15-40, things like that. Little half chances that I wasn't able to grab tonight.

All in all, I think it was a solid performance. Just proud of the way we've been able to fight and kind of grow through the week.

Q. You play a lot of power hitters on the tour, have good records against them. Is there anything different about the way Naomi plays power tennis? When she gets in front, she's a good frontrunner.
ASHLEIGH BARTY: Yeah, I mean, there are a lot of pure ball strikers out there. Naomi certainly fits into that category. She's very structured in the ways she wants to play. She's a great frontrunner, like you said. I think it was important to me to keep that scoreboard pressure.

I think in the second set, I probably just let her have a look at too many second serves, where she's up in the court, has control from the first ball. That's all that was in it.

At times her serve was great, she hit her spots really well, took me out of it a little bit. We all know that's a major weapon for her.

I think all in all, I played the way I wanted to play tonight. I didn't get a lot of help from sterile conditions, cold conditions, where I couldn't bring in as much variety and get the ball out of her hip pocket as much as I would have liked to.

Considering all things, it was a bloody good match.

Q. You played her last year. Do you think there was a change in how she played? How did it feel playing her this year?
ASHLEIGH BARTY: I think first and foremost it was a change in surface. Massive change. Obviously a quicker grass court in Notting is very different to a slow hard court here at night. I think that's probably the biggest thing.

But I think we've both changed and both developed as players and as people. I think there are a lot of changes for both of us. Overall I think it was a good match that could have gone either way.

I think if I was able to create a couple of breakpoint opportunities that second set, maybe I'm sitting here in a different position.

Overall it's been a great week. I certainly have no regrets.

Q. With the leg injury coming into the tournament, how much effort and time did you have to take to protect it and work on it, especially on recovery? How pleased are you coming out of a grueling week how well it held up?
ASHLEIGH BARTY: It held up fine. It held up great. There was just a little bit of taping for support more than anything, just that reassurance to know that it just needed tiny bit of help. I could have played without the tape. It was more just a comfort thing, knowing we're at the end of the year, just to cross every T and dot every I.

From a recovery point of view, looking after it, that was all of a maybe 10 or 15 minutes extra each day, very minimal. It's no different to how I look after my body any other week. If there are any other little niggles, it's the exact same process.

Q. At this stage of the season when everyone is tired, how pleased are you with the fact in the China double you did the semis in Wuhan and the final in Beijing?
ASHLEIGH BARTY: I'm extremely proud. Proud that myself, my team, we turn up for every single tournament, regardless of when it is during the year, what the conditions are like.

We come here with the expectation that I prepare as best that I can, I play as well as I can on any given day, and then we see what happens, we see what the results bring.

Not every single week you are going to be making semis and finals. I think it's important to celebrate those weeks, but also know still head down, bum up for a couple more weeks, another month or so towards the end of this season. We're really looking forward to it. We have a massive couple of weeks coming up. Now it's all about preparing for that, looking forward to that.

Then come early November, after we finish Fed Cup, celebrating the season that has been, for all aspects, on the court, off the court, everything. It's just a month that we're really looking forward to.

Q. The mics picked it up a little, but didn't hear the whole conversation with Craig. You said you were redlining your forehand. Was that with the conditions being sterile? Were you telling him you were trying to get the ball through the court?
ASHLEIGH BARTY: I was trying to belt it and I couldn't crack an egg out there. I think there were times when I tried to put more shape on the ball, tried to kind of change that, where it just wouldn't react off the racquet, would just sit there. At times I had to redline just to try to beat Naomi for pace because I couldn't really bring in the variety elsewhere.

Yeah, I mean, we knew that the conditions were going to be like that today when we woke up. Particularly when we warmed up this afternoon, realized how cool it was. In that center court, it's pretty sterile. We knew it was going to be the challenge.

I think today I did as best as I could, and that's all that I could ask of myself.

Q. Many fans, they're comparing you and Naomi and Bianca. You were born after 1995. You three are the future three stars of the WTA. You three will have many competitions. What do you think of this?
ASHLEIGH BARTY: Yeah, I think it's an exciting opportunity for all three of us. I've played Naomi a few times now. I haven't played Bianca yet. I'm sure that we'll cross paths in the future.

Yeah, I mean, it's a rivalry I suppose that I look forward to playing. I'm sure that I'll play them many, many times across our careers.

FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports

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