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QATAR TOTAL OPEN

February 28, 2020

Ashleigh Barty

Doha, Qatar

P. KVITOVA/A. Barty

6-4, 2-6, 6-4

THE MODERATOR: Questions, please.

Q. Tough contest. What would be your takeaways from the tournament this week and looking forward how would you look at this match and what would be that you would use it as a referral point for in the tournaments coming ahead or even in the season ahead?
ASHLEIGH BARTY: Yeah, it's been a very positive week, it really has, and tonight was no different. It was an exceptional match, obviously you look at a match and you debrief it to the nth degree.

But I think another really great contest with Petra, I love testing myself against her and, yeah, a match in where she played extremely well and took the match away from me in key moments.

Yeah, I mean, obviously we look at this week, it's been extremely positive and then we move on for the rest of the season.

Q. You came into the tournament, you had a bye, then you got a walkover, then you played Muguruza. Would you say you were less in practice or warming up for the tournament?
ASHLEIGH BARTY: No, no, it's all good.

Q. But it was a great contest. Where would you think that -- was it the final set -- where do you think that it got away from you?
ASHLEIGH BARTY: I think Petra was able to take it away from three at the 3-all game. From, I think it was 15-30 she went two return winners in a row and off of good first serves, I didn't miss my spots, and, yeah, you tip your hat, that's high quality tennis and Petra is an exceptional athlete and an exceptional competitor and tennis player and she showed that tonight why she's a champion.

And yeah, look, I mean another great match, it was a contest over a long period, with ups and downs, we both had chances and different looks in, but, yeah, another ripper.

Q. In the last like four meetings that you had where you had won there had seemed to be some adjustments that were made from your side of the net tactically in playing Petra. Tonight, did you see that there were adjustments that she made that were particularly different than the last few matches you've played against her?
ASHLEIGH BARTY: Yeah, I think whenever you've lost to someone a couple of times in a row you have to make adjustments. And we tried that, I think it was the first time in Miami last year, we tried some tactical adjustments and they worked.

In saying that, we also had two very tight three-setters trying those tactics. It's never going to be -- when you play against a high-quality opponent, a top 10 player, it's never going to be an easy match and I think it's always going to be a tussle, there's always only going to be a few points in it and that was case again tonight.

But yeah, there was some tactical changes from Petra as well and I think that's natural. She's too good of a tennis player and too smart of a person to not try something different and change the way that she plays and adjust the way that she plays as well.

Q. And then from your perspective at this point do you go back to Australia and then make your way over to California, do you go head straight there, what was your kind of plan from now?
ASHLEIGH BARTY: Yeah, home for me. Home for me. I mean, it's kind of middle ground, I suppose, from here. It's a relatively easy flight from Australia to get to L.A., it's just a one-day thing.

And, yeah, so we'll head home for a few days, catch up with the fam and then head over to Indian Wells on the weekend.

Q. How important is it you go home, you catch up with family, you get that support for your tournaments right through the season, especially probably you're down, you've lost a tournament, you've lost a match, how important is the support from family?
ASHLEIGH BARTY: Oh, that's my relaxation, that's my life. I think -- it's funny, when you go home to your friends and family it's amazing how little other things matter and I think for me it's about that perspective and spending time with those that I love the most. And regardless whether I've just won a tournament, lost in the first round, it really doesn't matter.

That's where I draw my energy, I recharge my batteries and, yeah, I go home probably more than most Aussies I think in particular, we're just, we are very far away from a lot of things, particularly in that European swing throughout the year, but I absolutely get home at every opportunity.

FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports

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