US OPEN

August 27, 2021

Ashleigh Barty

Press Conference

THE MODERATOR: Questions, please.

Q. It's been two years since you've been here. How do you feel you've grown and changed? How different does it feel to be here?

ASHLEIGH BARTY: Obviously a lot's changed in my life since then. A lot has changed for everyone across the world since then. It was disappointing not to play here in New York last year. Pretty strange circumstances for everyone.

It's certainly nice to be back here now. It feels like a long time since I've been back at New York. This week is going to be exciting. It's got fans. That's going to bring a lot of energy to this tournament. This is a tournament that thrives with the energy. I can't wait to get started.

Q. To what extent are you making the most of your relative freedoms in Manhattan? Obviously it carries with it a certain amount of risk.

ASHLEIGH BARTY: Yeah, look, for me it doesn't change a lot to what I do typically at a slam. Whether we've been in a bubble or not, I'm not one to get out and about too much. Obviously we spend our time here at the courts doing what we need to do. Once we're back at the hotel, a lot of the time it's pretty quiet for me. I'll wander town to a cafe and get a coffee, and that's about it.

Q. Is it going to be a little tough to get used to again, a crowd this big, noisier, moving around during changeovers?

ASHLEIGH BARTY: It will be fun without a doubt. It will be enjoyable. Cincinnati last week obviously it was probably the first time we had crowds that felt that close to the courts. Even the practice court, it was pretty unreal to have kids and people all around the practice court. That was really cool.

I think coming here to New York, it's going to be like that, I think just with a few more bodies moving around. But it's certainly going to be a lot of fun.

Q. What was the toughest part being away for half a year? Coming back, what was the nicest thing?

ASHLEIGH BARTY: We're not quite finished yet, so we'll wait till our adventure comes to an end before we go and start reminiscing or thinking about some of the tougher times and some of the nicer times.

This journey for me this year has been remarkable, it's been incredible. Even though there have been some tough moments, that's made the better moments all the more enjoyable. I think being able to see the positives and learn from both sides has been a crucial part of our year. We've had a lot of fun. We've tried to lighten up every day, laugh, smile, make the most of the position we're in.

We're getting to do what we love. We get to play tennis. We get to come out here and play a game for a living. We're very fortunate and very grateful that we're here doing what we love.

Q. As somebody who knows the difficulty of winning a Grand Slam title, a couple years later a second, how would you describe what Novak Djokovic is trying to accomplish, the achievement of trying to win four all within one year?

ASHLEIGH BARTY: I couldn't tell you how it feels. There's very few people on the planet that know how to answer that question. I'm certainly not one of them. You'll have to ask that from him or chat to a few of the legends in our sport that have been able to achieve it.

Q. Can you imagine what it might take or wrap your head around that idea of trying to win that many in a row?

ASHLEIGH BARTY: It's all speculation for me. I think my answer would be irrelevant. It would have no context because I have exactly no idea what it feels like.

Q. One year ago where are you? Are you watching the US Open? What was it like for the two weeks?

ASHLEIGH BARTY: I was probably sitting on my couch at home with the dogs. Certainly wasn't watching. You have to be up too early in the morning or too late at night for me to be up watching tennis.

I always just enjoy my time at home. I think this was our last probably month before we really started our pre-season. We started pre-season in October. I was enjoying a month of the freedom under the restrictions we had in Australia at that time. In Brisbane, it wasn't too bad. We could kind of get out and move a little bit.

Just enjoying my time at home.

Q. What in your mind makes Naomi Osaka the player she is on hard courts?

ASHLEIGH BARTY: Naomi is a pure ball-striker. When she has time to set up particularly after her first serve, she's one of the best first-serve, first-strike players I've ever come up against.

On a hard court, there's not a lot of variation on the bounce. She can set up, trust the bounce, and really swing through the line. I think that's what makes her so damaging on these courts.

Q. In Cincinnati you spoke a lot about the adjustments you made with those courts and balls. Having played a few times on the practice courts here, how are you finding the combination of the courts and balls? How much of that impacts how you approach this tournament?

ASHLEIGH BARTY: Yeah, it's not too dissimilar to Cincinnati I found. I think there's obviously a little bit more humidity here in New York. It changes the way the ball flies through the air a fraction, how long it stays on your racquet.

The similarities are there. There are a lot of things that feel similar. The courts are a little bit different. The practice courts obviously play different to the match courts purely because they've had more traffic on them.

There aren't any tricks or any gremlins in these courts. Pretty much what you see is what you get. You have to be able to play in those conditions, adjust and adapt to those conditions quickly, otherwise you're out of the tournament, packing your bags, going home.

For us, everything remains the same in a sense that we prepare as well as we can for our first round tactically against the opponent we're going to play and we try to go out there and execute.

Q. You've been playing brilliantly this year. What is the key for you to maintain that unbelievably high and consistent level of play?

ASHLEIGH BARTY: Me, it's keeping it simple. It's enjoying my tennis, going out there and playing with freedom. It's being really clear with tactically how I want to play. Then it just comes down to execution.

Some days I'm going to be able to execute better than others. Some days I'm going to have to go into the toolbox a little bit, find different things, rely on different things in my game. I think knowing that I have the confidence to go out there and trust myself is massive.

Q. Do you think not playing last year, not dealing with the wear and tear of the bubble and all that, has been an advantage for you at all this year, or is it a disadvantage?

ASHLEIGH BARTY: Yeah, I think there are probably pros and cons both ways. Obviously the bubbles for me were very new this year. It was something I never experienced before. But I can't see a massive, massive advantage of not playing on the tour for seven or eight months. That was obviously something new and a different thing that I experienced knowing there was a tour going ahead and I was at home.

I was completely okay with that. That was my decision. I felt like I made the decision for the right reason for me. That's all that mattered. I think each and every person on this tour is unique, they make their own decisions, and that's kind of all there is to it.

I mean, I feel like there's probably neither way is it a pro or a con, it is what it was. That was kind of the decision I made. I'm certainly enjoying being back on the tour this year.

It has been different. Like I said, the bubbles for me were a first. I've become more accustomed to them now. It's more of the norm. I think everyone on the tour is really used to it.

Q. It probably feels like years ago for you now, I was thinking about your marathon trip over to Miami, all that lay ahead of you, your goals. Would you reflect on all you have achieved in that stretch with your team, all the hard work you put in.

ASHLEIGH BARTY: We've laughed a lot about some of the things that have happened. Most of that laughter has come from experiences off the court. Like you said, some things you haven't been able to control. The flight over here, I swear it was the world telling me I shouldn't be leaving Australia.

But we have to laugh about it. You have to be able to take the piss out of it and just kind of lighten up, enjoy it. It is what it is. It's become such a beautiful story for me this year. It's become such a beautiful year on the tennis court. All of those distractions, experiences, everything that's come with it has made it all the better.

I think once our year is over, I think it will be certainly a year for my team that's with me here, my team back in Australia, for all of us to come together and celebrate because it's been an incredible year. It's been one that probably, whenever I do retire, it's going to be one of those years that you really look back on and laugh when you think of the experiences that made you cry, you laugh at the experiences that made you hurt, and those ones that were really euphoric and incredible, they make you smile as well.

To be able to take that all into account when the dust settles and our year is over will be a lot more enjoyable than trying to create time now and find time to reminisce, because I don't want to reminisce just yet. I want to do that with my family and my whole team.

Q. I just wanted to ask you, how does it feel coming into the US Open with five titles under your belt this year?

ASHLEIGH BARTY: It feels good, mate. We've played a lot this year. To be able to have won some tournaments on different surfaces has been awesome in all different conditions. There certainly is no place like New York. There's nothing quite like the US Open.

I can't wait to get started here in a few days' time and hopefully you're glued to the telly and you're able to watch all of us here. There are going to be plenty of matches over the first few days. Hopefully you get to watch some of your favorites and we all play well for you, mate.