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AUSTRALIAN OPEN

January 24, 2020

Ashleigh Barty

Melbourne, Victoria, Australia

A. BARTY/E. Rybakina

6-3, 6-2

THE MODERATOR: Questions, please.

Q. Apart from winning, what was the most pleasing thing about today?
ASHLEIGH BARTY: I think today was probably my sharpest match that I played. I felt really comfortable moving around the court. I felt like I found the middle of the racquet a lot sooner than my other matches.

Particularly there were tough, long service games. I was able to get out of them and continue the momentum. I think all in all it was a pretty well-rounded performance.

Q. How does your preparation change when you're playing someone who you are not familiar with on the court compared to someone you are familiar with?
ASHLEIGH BARTY: Not at all. Nothing changes. I mean, Tyz sits down and watches a few of the matches, then we speak about it, put our brains together and see kind of what we think, ways that we can work around the match, work around their strengths, bring it back to my strengths.

So it's exactly the same whether I've played someone ten times or whether I've played them once. They're a fresh start every single time.

Obviously, if you have played someone, you can draw on some of those experiences. Yeah, absolutely nothing changes.

Q. Do you feel it's more about figuring out your opponent?
ASHLEIGH BARTY: I'm still here, it's all good. A lot of the time it's not about how you start, it's about kind of how you continue through the match for every single point.

I know if a player is going to beat me, they're going to have to play a very high-quality match for a long period of time. It's not just the first three or four games or first set, it's across a three-set match.

That's the challenge I try to present to my opponents as often as possible.

Q. She had a very fast rise, seeded at a slam suddenly, a year ago she was barely in the top 200. Did you see enough from her today that kind of made you say, Okay, now I know why she had that big leap?
ASHLEIGH BARTY: Incredibly so. Exceptional ball-striker, big game, big serve as well. At times today I got a few too many looks at second serves, which was able to shift my core position up a little bit.

I felt like today I was able to bring the match back onto my racquet a little bit. I watched a few of her matches from Hobart. She played Lizette, one of our Aussie girls, down in Hobart. We watched that matched purely out of interest with Lizette.

It was really good to see a young player who's a great ball-striker, good mover, has no fear out there.

Q. You said it's the best you played all summer. What makes you think today's performance was your best all summer?
ASHLEIGH BARTY: Yeah, best yet. Hopefully there's still a little bit left in me.

No, I think today was cleaner off the ground. I felt more comfortable on my racquet. I felt like I could put the ball where I wanted to more often than not.

It's more a feeling than anything else. Obviously I've been able to find a way and problem solve through a lot of my matches across the last two or three weeks.

But today, just a feeling for me, felt like it was cleaner than the other matches.

Q. Three games in now, has the team identified any areas that you really need to work on coming into the second week?
ASHLEIGH BARTY: I identify areas I need to work on every single day, regardless of whether it's first or second week. Doesn't matter what time it is of the season.

We practice those areas. Like we do every single day, we chip away. We try and improve one, two, three percent every single day. It's just what we do.

Q. As a German, it's quite interesting your doubles partner, you might meet up with Julia in singles as well. How tough is it to play your doubles partner? How does this combination work so well? What is the reason for that?
ASHLEIGH BARTY: Yeah, obviously it would be nice. I played Julia a couple times in singles. We just started our doubles combination, I suppose.

She's an incredible person. First and foremost, that's what has drawn me to her. She's a great tennis player. She's a lovely person. I enjoy spending time with her. I enjoy seeing her every day.

Regardless of how we go in doubles, that's the relationships I want to build off the court before we start on the court.

Q. What was it like after that, reflecting now, meeting her that time you became world No. 1? What was said? How did she react? How you reacted? What did that do to the relationship? Anything at all?
ASHLEIGH BARTY: Yeah, there's probably only a handful of people who I would have liked to have shared that moment with. Probably Casey is up there with Julia, as well.

Yeah, I mean, Jules said some really nice things and kind of made me tear up a little bit. She's a quality person, a quality human being.

It doesn't matter what happens on the tennis court, for her, she's the same person. That's what I love about her.

Q. You've said previously she kind of looked after you when you first arrived on the tour. Take us back to that time when you first met her, started practicing with her.
ASHLEIGH BARTY: Yeah, I was fortunate enough with her, through Casey, to meet a lot of my friends on the tour now. She was drawn to quality people on the tour. Me being a little puppy following her around, I was drawn to them as well. I think I was fortunate enough to have someone like Case guide me in the right direction.

Yeah, Julia has been a nice friend for a long time now. It's just been a very easy relationship.

Q. Ons Jabeur, the Tunisian girl, playing Wozniacki now, what are your thoughts on her? I believe you played her before.
ASHLEIGH BARTY: Yeah, I played Ons before. Played doubles with her. She's a great person as well. I enjoy giving her a little bit of stick every single day when I see her. She gives it back, which I love. It's great banter.

It's really nice to see her I think starting to play some of the big matches, get herself deeper in tournaments. She has the ability, she has the brain on the tennis court. It's really nice to see her put it together again. Someone who brings a smile on my face whenever I see her.

Q. Alison the next round. What are your thoughts?
ASHLEIGH BARTY: I think we'll just have to wait and see a little bit. A different opponent, Alison or Julia. Obviously very different players. I think we just have to wait a little bit.

There's no point in me focusing on one or the other at this stage. They still have to play. They still have to go out there and fight.

I think everyone plays a little bit differently in different situations, different surfaces. There are a lot of variables that will come into it regardless of who I play. So I think we'll just wait and see a little bit.

Q. You've look so comfortable after you've been able to problem solve on the run. Are you not doing your homework or just figuring out people so well so early in matches?
ASHLEIGH BARTY: Not doing my homework? What do you mean?

Q. Seems like you're making changes early on, not struggling, but after 15 or 20 minutes, you find yourself so comfortable that you figured them out.
ASHLEIGH BARTY: Oh, I think it's an adjustment for everyone. I've seen them play different matches and spoken to Tyz about how they've played different opponents. There's always a feeling-out period when two players match up, for the first time in particular.

I think it's kind of finding what pattern she's going to go to, what one she's going to go away from, then it's kind of trying to put that together. It's a puzzle. It's an ongoing problem-solving act, I suppose, throughout the whole match, not just in the first 5, 10, 15 minutes.

Q. Expectations are rising. How are you feeling as you progress through the tournament?
ASHLEIGH BARTY: My expectations are rising?

Q. No, everyone else's.
ASHLEIGH BARTY: Yours are? I don't care about yours. It's all good, I'm fine (laughter).

Q. No pressure at all?
ASHLEIGH BARTY: Like I've said from the very start, for us it's about coming out here and enjoying it. I'm loving every minute. Trying to do the best I can. That's all I can ask of myself.

Q. What went wrong in Wimbledon with Alison when you thought about it afterwards?
ASHLEIGH BARTY: Probably a match that I didn't want to think about really. For me, it was the end of a long trip. I felt like I was pretty tired. It had been a massive few months away from home.

There are bits and pieces of that match that I did well. I was 15-30 or 30-All early in the second set from getting a break, which you never know, it could change the tone of the match.

Yeah, not a match that I've worried or stressed about or lost sleep. Whoever I do play in the next round, we prepare no differently. We just go out there and try and do it.

Q. What changed in your life since being No. 1?
ASHLEIGH BARTY: There's a 'No. 1' next to my name and that's about it. I think my family is the same. I'm the same. Yeah, there's a different number sitting next to my name.

I've had some incredible experiences on that journey to try and get to No. 1, getting there. I've played on some beautiful courts against some tough opponents. Nothing's changed.

Q. In terms of scheduling, how much easier is it to know exactly when you know you're going to go on court, like this morning, first up?
ASHLEIGH BARTY: It's not easier or harder. It just is. It is what it is.

I've played enough matches where I've waited for hours and hours on end, warming up, not warming up, warming up again, kind of all different things. I feel I've experienced enough to know when I have my 15 or 20 minutes before I go on the court, I warm up, go through my processes, then we get ready to play.

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