ADELAIDE INTERNATIONAL

January 3, 2022

Ashleigh Barty

Press Conference

THE MODERATOR: Welcome back to Adelaide. Talk us through how excited you are to be here and thoughts ahead of the next week here.

ASHLEIGH BARTY: Yeah, it's nice to be back in Adelaide. I think obviously we've got some good memories playing here. It's nice to be back.

It's the start of the Aussie summer. It's nice to be back in tournament mode, see some girls around, see some faces around. For a few of the girls, I haven't seen in a long time. It's nice to be back.

Yeah, we're getting ready to go.

THE MODERATOR: Questions, please.

Q. In this last three months, how have you come down off all the stuff that you went through in 2021? What sort of things have you been doing? How much workouts have you been conducting, changes to game, et cetera?

ASHLEIGH BARTY: Yeah, it was obviously nice to have some time to reflect with my family and see my family after what was an enormous year. Yeah, we probably spent two or three weeks where it was pretty low-key, just catching up with everyone as best we could.

I mean, I still didn't see a lot of my team, my extended team, that were either in Melbourne or different places. It was only really starting to connect with everyone now again. It has been quite a long time in a sense of not being able to see everyone and really enjoy the fantastic year that we did have.

But it's been a nice period at home. Obviously we started pre-season, have trained well, are looking forward now to starting playing here in Adelaide and testing myself again.

Q. While you were away, you were making comments that you wanted to get back home to really celebrate what you have achieved with Wimbledon and all the other titles. How did you celebrate with the family?

ASHLEIGH BARTY: With the fam it was pretty low-key. It was nice just to come home to see everyone. It was nice to see the kids again, my siblings, my mum and dad. It was a pretty low-key barbecue the day that we got home.

Yes, still yet to have the opportunity to celebrate with my wider team. We still kind of haven't all been in the same place at once yet. Yeah, we look forward to that but it was nice with the family.

Q. You managed to stay on top of the charts for a couple years. But you look at the top 10, top 20, there's so many fresh faces. Can I get your thoughts on how that has shuffled around, how you view your contenders ahead of another year because there are plenty of fresh challenges?

ASHLEIGH BARTY: There's fresh challengers every year regardless of who is what spot on the ranking list.

There are certainly a number of breakout years through 2021, girls really stepped up, were able to play really consistent seasons which is exciting to see for the women's game.

You have obviously seen those girls that have been at the top for a very long time. Some had a rough run with injury, others had pretty solid years. It feels like it's just good competition. Genuinely there is really good depth and you have to bring your best time and time again to be able to compete with everyone and give yourself a chance to win the big titles.

Q. How do you feel your chances are shaping this year? There's lots of unproven contenders. Is it a great chance for you to go better at the Aussie Open this year?

ASHLEIGH BARTY: It's as good as anyone's. There will be 128 of us in the draw. We'll all do the same thing, do the best we can do. That's all we can ask, all we can do.

Q. What specifically have you been working on with your game? What are you trying to improve this year?

ASHLEIGH BARTY: It's a complete development of everything. Time and time again I want to try and be a complete player. I want to try and make sure there are no holes in my game. We just continue to do the work each and every year, like a lot of the girls do.

Obviously the more you play someone, the more you understand how they play. But they also get the same sense with you. A lot of the time it's about matchups. For me, I'm just trying to be the most complete player I can be and bring the best out of myself.

Q. The time when your whole team comes together, will that be in Sydney next week? Is that the plan?

ASHLEIGH BARTY: No. I don't know yet. We're still working on that. Obviously a few are still in Melbourne. Mum and dad are still up at home in Brissie. We'll do that when the time is right. There's no rush. We're not going anywhere.

I think when we do get a chance to sit down with each other, it will be fun. We'll just do it when the time's right, when we can.

Q. I've been asking players about the issue of vaccination, the issue of medical exemptions, whether or not they'd be comfortable playing against players who have been granted an exemption. Would that be the case for you, assuming an exemption is considered legitimate, you wouldn't have a problem with it?

ASHLEIGH BARTY: It's a tricky one for me because it's not my decision. We put the trust in those people that are making those decisions. They have the correct information. That's what it is. That's all it is. There's nothing else to it.

That's the very last thing I'm thinking of when I'm on the court, is the medical history of the player on the opposite side.

We put the trust in the people that are making those decisions for the right reasons and that's all you can do.

Q. You were talking about making sure your game is a whole game, plugging any holes. What would you have worked on, what did you feel really needed to be plugged, and how satisfied are you at the start of the year in the Australian season?

ASHLEIGH BARTY: It's the first time I've seen you in a while, Craig. I'm not going to tell you all my secrets. Let's be patient (smiling).

No, it's continuing to try to work on my game and better every facet of my game, whether it's how I hit a specific forehand, when I use a shot. It's all about using that in matches correctly. A lot of that is match awareness as much as being able to strike a tennis ball.

It's something that is a challenge that I love. I love to try to get better each and every day. I feel as though if you can continue to improve each and every day, that's a good thing. That's kind of what you're after.

Yeah, I mean, I'm excited now to try and bring it all together as best that I can and understand in the next couple weeks I'll have to be patient with myself, it has been awhile since I've played a competitive match. But I feel good. I feel ready. Now it's just about going out there and enjoying it.

Q. As you get the season started, does it feel similar to how you came out of 2019 into 2020, having a great season, lots of reasons to be confident? Does it feel different?

ASHLEIGH BARTY: Yeah, I think each season is a bit unique, each season is a bit different. I think probably the way we finished 2019, we finished quite late in the year, and it was quite a quick turnaround, a short pre-season, bang, bang, bang, you're back into it.

This year I felt like we had a little bit more time to sit and settle after what was a fantastic year. Probably just had a couple of extra weeks in pre-season to take our time a little bit more and not feel as rushed.

But you never quite know. Until you play that first match, you never quite know until you kind of dip your toes in again into what it feels like for the competition. It's a different beast.

I think you just need to enjoy that and work your way through it in the first couple weeks because not often are you playing your very best tennis right at the start. You have to work your way in, earn that right.

I'm looking forward to that challenge starting here in Adelaide of trying to find my groove, you know, really enjoy being out on the match court again.