ADELAIDE INTERNATIONAL

January 9, 2022

Ashleigh Barty

Press Conference

A. BARTY/E. Rybakina

6-3, 6-2

THE MODERATOR: Could you talk about the match, how it feels to win your first title of the year.

ASHLEIGH BARTY: Yeah, it's really exciting. We've obviously had a brilliant week, been able to work progressively through each match. I got better and better.

I felt like today there were really a few key moments early in the first set to gain momentum. I was really happy to be able to get a couple of early breaks in the second and run away with it.

THE MODERATOR: Questions, please.

Q. Winning this now a second time in three editions, what is it about Adelaide that you feel so comfortable about?

ASHLEIGH BARTY: I feel comfortable all around Australia. I'm very lucky to get support all around the nation. It's just exciting to be back playing tennis here in Australia. It feels like an eternity since I have been back on Aussie soil playing.

Yeah, had a lot of fun this week. It was a bonus that I was able to get a few matches.

Q. How fresh are you feeling, having taken nearly four months off towards the end of last year? You were able to unwind, had a few extra weeks up your sleeve as far as training. As you start this year, are you feeling fresher and fitter than maybe previous years?

ASHLEIGH BARTY: I mean, you certainly don't have that time off. You use that time as best you can. For us, that was a pre-season. At the end of the tournament, having played a few singles matches, I certainly don't feel fresh now.

The work that I do with my team behind the scenes puts me in the best possible position to play good tennis time and time again each and every time we're asked. I certainly feel pretty good coming into the summer.

Q. You mentioned you love playing as many matches as you can before the Australian Open, playing at home. When you win a title in Adelaide, do you ever think, That's enough, I don't need to play another match before the Open?

ASHLEIGH BARTY: It's been an extraordinary week. We've been able to play lots of matches in singles and doubles. I think we've had plenty of court time, which is great. My focus now is on trying to win that doubles title with Stormy tonight. I'm looking forward to going out there and win a title with her on home soil. I can't wait to go out there and try and do a bit of a sweep here on Sunday in Adelaide.

I'm looking forward to what's to come for this Australian summer. I love playing at home. I've said it time and time again. I take every opportunity as best I can.

Q. Jelena Dokic is saying that she thinks is the best you looked before an Australian Open. Is that how it feels to you? Watching you, it's like you're in mid-season form already. Is that how it feels to you?

ASHLEIGH BARTY: It's all relative, isn't it? It depends on how many matches. It depends on matchups. There are so many different variables coming into what you guys are seeing, and sometimes what you see is completely different to how I feel.

I feel good leading up to an Australian Open like I have every year. Each and every preparation is unique, each and every preparation is different. So we take it for what comes and what it is, move on, try and do the best that we can in every opportunity, whether that's here in Adelaide or it's in Melbourne.

It has absolutely no effect on the way that I prepare or the way I'm thinking leading forward just because it's a Grand Slam. Doesn't change for us. We look forward, we do what we can, then we see how we go.

Q. It looked like every time you were challenged this week, that's when your best tennis seemed to come out. Did you notice that yourself?

ASHLEIGH BARTY: Yeah, I felt like when my back was against the wall this week, I was able to have some real clarity with what I wanted to do and the patterns that I wanted to play. That's a bonus. You can't always execute that.

The more times you can execute and try and bring it back to your patterns when it matters most is a really important factor in my game and a lot of people's games.

I think we were pleased with the way we were able to execute this week and particularly look after my own service games for much of the week.

Q. At the end of the tournament, when we take you back to that Goff match, you were a set, 4-2 down, facing a breakpoint, at any stage did you think you were gone?

ASHLEIGH BARTY: All I was thinking about then was trying to land a first serve and play a pattern that works for me.

Look, you can look back in hindsight to a funny thing sometimes. All in all I think I've done a great job this week of really being present in all my matches, just trying to do what I needed to do on that given point. That's all I could do right from the start of this week.

Q. Of all the qualities that you used to win in Adelaide this week, which one has pleased you the most?

ASHLEIGH BARTY: I probably felt like overall this week my serve has been a real weapon. I felt like I struggled with rhythm early on in the week and I've been able to progressively get better and better. To go a few matches unbroken is really good.

I think all in all I was able to squeeze myself out of some tough moments. I was able to start games well and get ahead in games, which is sometimes important just to feel like you're always in front of the eight ball and kind of moving in the right direction.

All in all this week I felt like I was able to look after my service games well, which then allowed freedom for the rest of my game.

Q. Because your record in finals now is starting to get impressive, eight of your last nine, what do you think that says about you?

ASHLEIGH BARTY: I think there's genuine excitement when you're in a final. You're playing the other person that has played the best during that week, plain and simple. You got the two best players from that week assessing those conditions, being able to work their way through matches. That's the ultimate challenge. Once you've had both had a few matches under your belt, you understand what's going on.

Sometimes matchups come into it, of course. I think in finals it's important not to over-emphasize the fact that it's a final, but it's important to enjoy the fact that it's a final. You've earned the right to play for a title.

I've been extremely fortunate over the last few years to play in a few finals and kind of learnt over that time to not be concerned if you're behind or you lose a few in a row. Each and every match, you go out there and try and do the right thing. For us, that's been a good recipe.