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ADELAIDE INTERNATIONAL

January 14, 2020

Ashleigh Barty

Adelaide, South Australia, Australia

A. BARTY/A. Pavlyuchenkova

4-6, 6-3, 7-5

THE MODERATOR: Questions, please.

Q. What do you say to yourself when you're a set down in a tennis match?
ASHLEIGH BARTY: Great question. It's something I try and pride myself on is that no matter what the score is, I try and hang around for the whole match every time.

Last year we did it really well, had a really good record of when I'd lost the first set, of coming back and trying to win those matches. Today was no different.

I felt like I was doing the right things. I just needed to hang in there and wait for an opportunity to come and then try and grab it. Yeah, pretty happy to be able to turn that one around.

Q. (Question about conversation with coach.)
ASHLEIGH BARTY: Yeah, a lot of it was what I was already thinking. It's more a bit of clarity, more a bit of reassurance from Tyz's end.

Obviously I was able to get myself back in the match by that stage, and I felt like it was just a work in progress. It was just me finding the middle of the racquet, finding kind of my groove and my ability to get depth so I could control the match a little bit more.

Q. In that final set, did it feel like it was just a seesaw, or was it a thought that the opportunity is going to be there and you just have to bide your time?
ASHLEIGH BARTY: Yeah, it was a really big game that I got out of at 2-1, I think, on my serve. I played a bit of a poor start to the game and then played some good stuff towards the end. Then I was able to get a bit of a roll on.

I mean, credit to Anastasia when her back was against the well at 5-2. She came out swinging, and I felt like in that game in particular I didn't do a hell of a lot wrong. I hit my spots on serve, and then she came up with the goods.

So I have to give credit where credit is due, but very happy, very proud of myself the way that 5-All game I was kind of able to regather and then get that last bit of momentum that I needed.

Q. How much of it is also the fact that this is really only your second singles match this year?
ASHLEIGH BARTY: Obviously it's natural to find your rhythm and kind of find your groove the more matches you play. That's the beauty of tennis is that there is always another opportunity the next week.

That's what the focus was after Brisbane is that we knew we had an opportunity here, and now I have another opportunity in a couple of days to try and refine my game and try and problem-solve the best that I could.

Those tough wins, those wins when you're not necessarily playing your best tennis I think always make you feel pretty good deep down, knowing that you can kind of scrap out of it and get out of it.

Q. Is it too early for you to start looking at the next match or you wait for another day? It's either Rodionova or a French Open final repeat.
ASHLEIGH BARTY: Well, they haven't played, so I won't be worrying about it tonight, I think. There is enough sport on tonight for me to watch to take my mind off tennis. There's I think about six, seven hours of cricket that will be on our TV, so yeah, we'll be good to go.

Q. Fourth game of the third set when you're down and you hold at 2-All, you're able to save two breakpoints in that game, when you turned that around, did you feel as though that was kind of the relief that you needed to then break that very next game and start to gain some momentum in that set?
ASHLEIGH BARTY: Yeah, a little bit. I felt like I found a bit of better depth from then on, and particularly against -- in my return games, I was able to make a lot more returns and just put some scoreboard pressure on Anastasia.

But in the end, happy that we were able to get through, even with the ebbs and the flows and the kind of the roller coaster that it was. Very happy to have an opportunity in a couple days' time to come out and try and, yeah, continue to refine my game and continue to problem-solve.

Q. You looked pretty frustrated early, especially in the first set and parts of the second set. Were you playing as aggressively as you wanted to? There is I guess that shot that comes to mind where you had an overhead at the net, put it straight down the middle, and she returns it back past you. You looked pretty frustrated and almost willing yourself to maybe be a bit more aggressive?
ASHLEIGH BARTY: Yeah, a high forehand volley, not quite an overhead. Yeah, I think that was probably one of the first points that I played my structures the way that I wanted to, and I was actually inside the court.

But Anastasia has the ability to take control away from you. She's very aggressive from her first strike and she's one of the cleanest ball strikers out there.

I think in this matchup, we have played numerous times, I have to kind of bide my time and try and hang in there as best as I can when she's in control of the match and then when I can kind of wrestle that control back and try and be more assertive.

I felt I did that well in the third set, and she kind of wrestled it back again. So it's just the way tennis is, the way sport is. I mean, you have to go out there and commit to every single point and be present in every single point.

Q. We have had a couple of big names drop out on the women's side. Sloane Stephens lost this morning. There was a feeling that the tournament actually needed you to win today. Do you attach yourself to that pressure, or are you aware of it or how do you work that?
ASHLEIGH BARTY: I think you've created that in your own sentence, mate. I don't think the tournament really cares who wins tennis matches.

I mean, everyone is out here just playing each other, trying to do the best they can. Every opponent deserves the same respect regardless of whether they have qualified, whether they are in the main draw, whether they are seeded. No matter who your opponent is, they deserve the same amount of respect.

From my point of view, I don't really care what happens to the rest of the draw. I'm just trying to focus on my match and then now focus on my next match and that's all I really care about.

Q. Serena, what did you think of her winning an event at her age and stage last week? What kind of threat does she obviously pose down in Melbourne?
ASHLEIGH BARTY: Yeah, I mean, I didn't see any of her tennis in Auckland. Obviously we were focusing on Brisbane and kind of doing our own thing there.

But I think aside from Serena, there are going to be 127 girls in the draw that are a threat to me in Melbourne. Obviously everyone, as I have just said, everyone deserves the same amount of respect. Everyone has earned that respect, and everyone has earned their way into the draw in Melbourne, has every single right to win the tournament.

So I think, for me, it's about focusing on my first round when the time comes in a week's time. For now, we are just looking to focus on, you know, and kind of debrief today, and then move on to our next match.

Q. Considering what you were just saying and the point about Serena, as well, how much do you take note of what's going on around you as far as other matches and results are concerned? Is there much interest or is it really just focus on yourself?
ASHLEIGH BARTY: In my tournaments or other tournaments?

Q. Both, both situations.
ASHLEIGH BARTY: I think -- I mean, I have a particular interest in the other Australian girls, particularly those that I train with on a regular basis. Obviously there are a few playing in qualifying today.

I know Lizette had a great win down in Hobart, as well. I think I take notice of the girls that I train with and I have close relationships with.

All in all, it's more just kind of a vague check more than anything. But, yeah, not a lot sticks in this brain. There's a few marbles rolling around in there, so I'm just trying to focus on what I do best.

Q. What's the better preparation leading into the Open? Is it scrapping your way to a title here, or is it dominating and having more ease and control in games and matches?
ASHLEIGH BARTY: Whatever it is, it is. It doesn't change the way that I think about my preparation. But what my preparation is, what it will be will be. It doesn't really matter.

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