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AUSTRALIAN OPEN

January 28, 2020

Ashleigh Barty

Melbourne, Victoria, Australia

A. BARTY/P. Kvitova

7-6, 6-2

THE MODERATOR: Questions, please.

Q. Can you talk a little bit about the one-thousand-word paragraph you get from your coach.
ASHLEIGH BARTY: It's in-depth. Got a lot of detail. Tyz is very precise in what he has seen from previous matches, what he's looked at into our opponents. Also a little bit of it is just discussion that we have back and forth.

Yeah, he's the best at what he does for a reason. It's certainly nice having him in my corner because I feel like he could probably pick me apart pretty easily. So it's nice to have him in my corner.

Q. You made fun of him on the court.
ASHLEIGH BARTY: Every time I get an opportunity I I'm going to make fun of my team. That's just a given. We do that on a daily basis. You know, it's good fun.

Q. You played in the afternoon today. Did you or your team request to play in the daytime as opposed to the night?
ASHLEIGH BARTY: I think everyone has preferences of when they like to play. For me, I love playing in the sun. I love playing in the daytime. We play more matches in the daytime than we do at night.

I think with the other quarterfinal being played in the morning, as well, it was fine. But, yeah, I mean, I'm happy to play in the sun any time.

Q. When you have to weather a storm like that, how tough is that mentally?
ASHLEIGH BARTY: I think it's exciting. It's a challenge. I love it. I love testing myself against Petra. She has this way of bringing out the very best in me.

Yeah, I mean, she came at me with all guns blazing. That first set could have gone either way. It was really important to try and get my nose ahead when I could. It was nice to save a set point and get a roll on early in the second set with a couple of quick breaks.

Q. End of the first set did you feel like you had her?
ASHLEIGH BARTY: You never have Petra until the last point is played. She's an unbelievable competitor. She keeps coming, coming, coming time and again. You have to be prepared to play every single point. You have to be there every single point. There's no other way to approach it.

For me, it was about trying to start that second set well, continue doing what I was doing, what was working, just go from there.

Q. What is the story with Gary wearing the red shirt in the box? Is that a lucky charm? More Liverpool or Tiger Woods?
ASHLEIGH BARTY: You guys are scratching the barrel, aren't you (laughter)?

He likes the color red. It was a Fila shirt. It was on the top of the pile that I did the washing yesterday. That's all there is to it. He's not going to dive through his suitcase to find a shirt when there's a clean one right at the top. He's going to grab that one and off he goes.

Q. You mentioned Petra being a competitor. Sofia is intense on court. What do you sense from her across the court?
ASHLEIGH BARTY: She's an exceptional competitor as well. Loves to put herself out there, test herself on the biggest stage. Have played her a number of times now, with some results going both ways.

She has a great knack of controlling the court from the center of the court and being that first-strike player. It's going to be important for me to try and nullify that if I can.

Q. A bunch of counter-punching today. Does that set you up well?
ASHLEIGH BARTY: Each opponent is different. I prepare and play each opponent differently.

Q. You've been getting a lot of airtime, shown a lot of love on social media, of course your mom Josie. Tell us a little bit about what she does for you in the player box other than being a proud mum.
ASHLEIGH BARTY: I couldn't even tell you where she sits in the box. I'm not looking up at her direction.

Yeah, I mean, to me she's mum. That's all she is. That's what she is. She wears a million hats for our family. She does the exact same things for me as she does for my sisters. I love her just being mum.

I know she gets nervous. I think she has a bit of a fit sometimes in the box when the matches are close. But yeah, I couldn't even tell you where she sits, to be honest.

Q. A couple familiar faces there for Melbourne people, especially today Brian Taylor and Daisy Pearce, a few more footy influences for you.
ASHLEIGH BARTY: I try and surround myself with good people. Obviously we have a connection with our manager. It's really nice when we can come and support each other.

Obviously Daisy had her first hit out last week. She's getting excited for the season. B.T. is gearing up for another year of commentating. Yeah, he's one of the best.

Q. Can you talk about what you can remember from the point of 3-2 in the tiebreaker? How much were your legs burning at the time?
ASHLEIGH BARTY: Yeah, I said to my team actually, I want to watch that point. I felt like I was run ragged around everywhere, just trying to throw the ball up to give myself some time.

Yeah, I just remember trying to stay alive in the point because I knew it was a big one. A big difference swapping ends at 2-4 than there is at 3-All, just in a sense of trying to keep yourself in touch.

That's the challenge against Petra, keep that scoreboard pressure as often as you can. More of a survival mode point than anything else.

Q. Can you sense the excitement that you're generating here by what you're doing at the tournament?
ASHLEIGH BARTY: I'm excited. My team's excited. We love the opportunity of getting another match out on that beautiful court.

Q. Do you get a sense of the public and the nation itself on your side?
ASHLEIGH BARTY: I don't pay attention to it honestly. I'm here to try and do the best that I can. Obviously it's exciting. Hopefully I can bring a smile to a few faces around our country and around the world.

For me, it's trying to do the best that I can, find that enjoyment for myself and my team.

Q. Do you have any precautions you take in terms of keeping yourself in a tunnel vision mode here, not having to walk past certain storefronts that have your face all over them, not turning on the TV too often? What do you do to avoid you? Because you're pretty unavoidable here.
ASHLEIGH BARTY: Yeah, tell me about it (smiling).

My team do a good job at taking the piss a little bit, sending me some of the photos. Look, you just have to have fun with it. That's the only way.

Yeah, I mean, I don't really have a lot of time actually. I've been on-site quite a bit, not really going for leisurely strolls around Melbourne. When I have an hour or two, it's more just going back to the apartment and spending time with family. That's about it.

Q. Are you every surprised to see yourself anywhere, like, I don't even remember doing that one? There's so many.
ASHLEIGH BARTY: There's not that many. Obviously I got some pretty good partners, some pretty good sponsors. I'm proud of each and every one.

When I do see myself, I kind of laugh a little bit because I feel pretty goofy doing them. Yeah, it's all in good fun.

Q. Can you compare this run to the French Open? Are you enjoying one more than the other so far?
ASHLEIGH BARTY: They're completely different, completely different. They're different tournaments. I feel like I'm a different person. I'm growing as a person every single day, I'm growing as a tennis player.

This is a new experience for me. I'm just going to try and take it in my stride, learn as much as I can and go from there.

Q. I was watching the video on the WTA Tour about your story, back in time of Jim Joyce. He was talking about when you started at the age of four. Usually he wouldn't take boys or girls till they were seven. Do you think you started too young or you started when you needed to start? Is there a good age for kids to start playing tennis?
ASHLEIGH BARTY: Everyone is different. Everyone has their own unique path, their own unique journey.

Yes, I've had my ups and downs, but I wouldn't change mine for the world. Every single experience, the good and the bad, I've learnt from. I've grown. That's all I can do.

Every single person has a different experience and a different journey. For me, I was involved in sport from probably when I could walk. I can't even remember the first sport I was kind of involved in. It was in my blood straightaway.

I know there are probably a lot of kids around the nation, around the world that are the same. Some pick it up later in life, some don't at all. Everyone is a little bit different.

Q. You said last week you would never get used to all of this fuss. Isn't it a bit nice to get used to this?
ASHLEIGH BARTY: No, I'd prefer to just be sitting at home just living my quiet little life. I mean, no offense, but not having to chat to you guys every day would be pretty good (smiling). I feel like I have nothing to say. I'm talking in circles a little bit.

It's incredible. It's a part of the journey that I hate it and I love it. It's all the same. It's all in good fun.

Q. On your love of sport. In Brisbane we were counting how many different kinds of balls you had with you. How many did you bring here? What is your general traveling multi-sport count?
ASHLEIGH BARTY: Well, I mean, we just make up games on the go. It's ridiculous how creative we get. It becomes stupid at times.

I mean, we have a cricket bat with us. We have an AFL ball, a little kid-sized one. We play keepie uppie. We make up stupid games. It gets a bit out of hand.

FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports

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