AUSTRALIAN OPEN

January 27, 2022

Ashleigh Barty

Press Conference

A. BARTY/M. Keys

6-1, 6-3

THE MODERATOR: Congratulations on getting to the final. It must be a pretty special feeling right now.

ASHLEIGH BARTY: Incredibly so, to be in the finals weekend of your home Grand Slam is what a lot of Aussie players dream of. Yeah, it's going to be an incredible experience come Saturday. I can't wait to go out there and enjoy it.

THE MODERATOR: Questions?

Q. Last time you were in the semis here, you said you had the plan, you just didn't execute. Tonight it looked like everything pretty much went according to plan.

ASHLEIGH BARTY: The conditions were a little bit different tonight to kind of what I'd played in previously. With a little bit of humidity around, it changed a few things. I felt like I was able to adapt quite quickly. Like you said, I was able to execute how I wanted to play tonight.

Obviously I was able to make Maddie uncomfortable and make her press, and that was kind of part of the plan, as well. I felt like we did a really good job all in all of playing the match in kind of our terms.

Q. We talked about this the other day, but your serving numbers have been crazy. Just wondering how confident does that make the rest of your game? Does it free you up knowing you're holding with relative ease?

ASHLEIGH BARTY: I just feel really clear on my service games. I have a lot of trust in my game, have a lot of trust in my serve. Even tonight I feel like I gave Maddie a lot of looks at second serves. I didn't quite have my rhythm on the first serve, but when I needed it most it was there. I know I can just throw it up and really trust it, go after my spots and try and get free points and back myself in. If I don't I can back my legs in and run and kind of build pressure without that facet of my game.

All in all I think it's been a really good serving start to the year, I suppose, but we did do a lot of work on it.

Q. (Question off mic.)

ASHLEIGH BARTY: I think it helps your whole game. It allows me to play the way I want to play. It helps when you're able to trust yourself with your whole game, and we've had a lot of trust so far this year.

Q. You touched on every Australian kid who played tennis dreaming of playing in the Australian Open final. Can you remember the first one you watched or first time you thought that's where I want to be?

ASHLEIGH BARTY: Not specifically, but I do remember my first experience here at the Australian Open. I would have only been 11 or 12 years old and came down for a training camp in the second week of the Australian Open. To see how professional it was and to see everyone going about their business was really eye-opening. My first taste of it was in the juniors and I loved it.

I think being able to get a taste of that kind of lit the flame. You wonder what you can achieve. You wonder what you can do.

Over the last three or four years I've loved playing here in Australia. I've had my best results here over the last little period. It's really exciting now that we get to play for a title on a Saturday at your home slam.

Q. A lot of players focus on themselves and wouldn't kind of say they're trying to make the opponent uncomfortable. Was there ever a point in your career I guess when you were younger that you weren't as focused on the opponent and only on yourself, how that's kind of developed over your career?

ASHLEIGH BARTY: Oh, I'm still very much focused on myself. I know if I do the right things on my part it will make my opponent uncomfortable. I think it's a little bit of a double-edged sword in a way. Sometimes it's really nice to be able to focus internally and just focus on what you need to do and then other times it's nice to look up the other end of the court and see how your opponent is reacting.

Without a doubt I've done that in various stages in my career, and sometimes it is nice to take the focus away from your feelings and focus on them a little bit more. It just opens your eyes and changes the perspective of how you view the match.

I think being able to use a little bit of both is something that I like to do. Everyone is different, everyone is unique, and I found that doing a little bit of both really sharpens me up and makes me see the court in different ways.

Q. The next 48 hours, anything different? Just the same process? Take us through how you'll spend the time.

ASHLEIGH BARTY: Same old. I'm a creature of habit. Not a lot will change for us. The preparation stays the same, process is the same.

I'm able to switch off when I'm not here on-site and that makes the time when we are on-site more enjoyable, more special, and then we switch on and get ready to go.

Q. Just wondering, were you aware of the rain coming across, and if you were, how conscious were you of trying not to have that major break when they closed the roof up?

ASHLEIGH BARTY: We were told that there was some weather coming in, that was expected kind of around 9:00, I think. But to be honest, I completely lost track of time when we're out on court and didn't even realize that the roof was closing as we were playing.

Just when I jumped off the court, straightaway I noticed that the roof was closed and realized it was raining. So it was not in my focus by any means. I had no idea what the time was kind of while we were out there.

That's not something I can control, so ultimately there is no point in me focusing on it.

Q. I know you love the process of sitting down with Tyz and your next opponent and working out the matchup and a lot of that would be to do with what you do well and what you can do to unsettle them. How much do you look at, say, for example, you play in Iga's in Saturday's final, do you look at her match against Kanepi and saying, Kaia was doing this against Iga and that worked really well for her, we need to note that or we need to think about that or is that irrelevant?

ASHLEIGH BARTY: Yes and no. In the same breath, I think the way that I play -- each player is unique and each player plays differently. So I think the matchups you can maybe see some areas from multiple players they struggle, I don't know. I chat to Tyz and there aren't too many girls now that we either haven't seen or played or practiced with. So it's more relative to us and what's hopefully going to work from my point of view and the way I play.

Tyz, he's a magician. He's able to look at a lot of different matches, look at some key matches, and recent, some old, and kind of work our plan out, looking at different conditions and things like that.

He's the man that does all the work. I just get to go out there and try and have fun with it.

Q. You're with your team all the time, we see you playing cricket and hanging out with them all the time. Can you just tell us what makes Craig such a special coach? He's obviously captain of your team, you call him. And also expand on some of the other members, obviously you probably wouldn't have won Wimbledon last year without your physio, can you talk about each one of the ones that are really important?

ASHLEIGH BARTY: Everyone is equally important. We're all equal. We all play our roles, and I think the most amazing thing is we all communicate really well together and get along with each other and know when it's time to back off and relax and then when it's time to switch on and really have a crack.

I think Tyz has been obviously a massive part of my life since 2016, even before that we had done some work together. The work that he's done in setting up an amazing group of people around us has propelled my career for both of us.

I mean, the experiences we've been able to share together have been remarkable, for my whole team. You know, my family, starts with my family, my sisters. Obviously my professional team who contribute so much time and energy into my career and help me try and live out my dreams.

I genuinely cannot thank them enough for the time and effort they put in to someone else. I think being able to enjoy it all together and lighten up when we're not focused on the matches is a really important part of that.

Q. Wondering what you thought you have learned over the years about playing at the business end of the Australian Open with all the fan support, the attention, the occasion? Do you feel like you embrace all of that, or do you sort of block it out and treat it like this is the business end of the French or Wimbledon?

ASHLEIGH BARTY: Absolutely embrace it. You have to. It's fun. It's brilliant to be playing in the business end of your home slam. I'm not gonna lie about that. It's amazing.

I think being able to experience it multiple times has been incredible, but Saturday's going to be a new experience for me. So I go out there and embrace it, smile, try and do the best that I can and whatever happens happens.

It's been an incredible January, an incredible summer for us. Yeah, I'm really looking forward to having one last crack here to really go out there and enjoy it.

Q. Many of your colleagues said that you are one of the nicest girls on the tour, but once you step on the court seems like you don't hesitate to execute your plan and beat your opponent. Do you think on the court you change your personality or the way to think about the work changes a little bit?

ASHLEIGH BARTY: I think my opponents force me to respect them. I respect every single opponent that's across the net and I know I have to bring my best tennis to compete.

I love spending time with the girls, but ultimately we're all competitors. We love to play against each other. We love the competition and the battle, and that's what we want to do the most. Once I do cross that white line and go out on to the court it's about trying to do that the best I can.

Q. You haven't accumulated a lot of time on court. Are you putting extra work in between games to make up for that at all?

ASHLEIGH BARTY: No.

Q. Could you talk about your prospective opponents and what makes them so challenging? Obviously Danielle is a wonderful story, as well, what she's been through last year to get this far.

ASHLEIGH BARTY: She's an exceptional ball striker. She's someone who stands on the baseline and can hit all spots of the court from any position. I think the challenge is going to be trying to get her off-balance.

I think with Iga, presents different challenges. Obviously I've played her more recently, but she knows how to win Grand Slam titles. She knows how to play big matches, play them well. She's got options to go to, as well.

I think they're still playing now, but I think whoever it is we'll do our homework, try and figure out a plan and come Saturday try and execute.

Q. I think you were born the year the Oz Open may have started here or just before. Kooyong was where a lot of the great Australians have played and won titles. Have you been there? Have you ever had discussions with Evonne or someone else, what it was like when Australian tennis was at those moments making finals all the time?

ASHLEIGH BARTY: I love Kooyong. I'm a Kooyong girl. I love it. That's my club down here in Melbourne, I love the grass there. I'm yet to be able to really enjoy a full grass court season at the Kooyong courts.

I can just imagine what it would have been like, the way that the stadium is set up. I've said a couple of times I wish I was maybe born in a different era and I got to experience playing on grass courts all year long. It would have been incredible.

But the development that has come with moving to Melbourne Park has been incredible to encourage fans to come and enjoy it with us. Obviously the courts, the way the game has changed over the last 20, 30 years has been incredible as well. It's a different experience, without a doubt, but, yeah, I think it would have been pretty cool.

Q. You spoke about switching off when you go off-site. How do you do that when you've got such a big, exciting thing coming up? What do you do to switch off?

ASHLEIGH BARTY: It's pretty easy for me. When I'm not here, I don't really think about the tennis too much. I've got the women's Ashes to watch, which is brilliant, read a book, a few coffees, and we're set.

Q. You spoke a bit about Danielle Collins, but to elaborate, what do you remember most about the matches that you have had with her? What do you make of her story and coming back from the surgery that she had last year and doing so well at this tournament?

ASHLEIGH BARTY: Yeah, Danielle has done incredibly well here in Australia before. I mean, we have played in Adelaide a couple of times. We have played on clay before. I think the way she's able to control the baseline and really take the game on she's one of the most fierce competitors out here. She loves to get in your face and loves to really take it on.

If we happen to match up on Saturday, it's going to be no different. It's going to be a challenge for me to try and neutralize as best that I can, but it is certainly nice to see her back out here playing her best stuff.

Q. I know you like to focus on yourself, you're very level-headed and everything, but I'm curious, do you ever allow yourself to think about the legacy you're currently creating in this sport, the kind of consistency you brought to the game after a period where there was just so much change at the top and everything? Does that drive you at all to feel like, okay, I am able to do this and do something that no one else is doing at the moment in tennis?

ASHLEIGH BARTY: Yeah, it's a difficult one, because I think sometimes change is good. I think the way that the WTA or the women's tour has changed over the last three, four, five years has been incredible. The depth has expanded dramatically, and I think that has forced everyone to raise their level and to try and do whatever they can to get the best out of themselves.

That's no different for me. I have tried to challenge myself in different ways. My team challenges me every single day to try and become better and to try and keep doing the things that we love to do, and it's been an incredible journey over the last few years of enjoying that challenge, of continually trying to get better and better and better.

That's a testament to the depth that is on the tour right now, because, I mean, you have seen even recently with different winners and different tournaments, anyone in the draw is able to win the event. You really have to respect every single opponent and you have to play your best tennis time and time again to be able to compete.

Q. I know that tennis is not on the TV ever when you're around and all that sort of stuff, but you also have the deepest dossiers in your head with respect to players. When we ask you about other players, it's like an encyclopedia. Where is that coming from? Is that just purely memory from previous matches, is it chatter from the locker room, is it Tyz? How do you compile that dossier on players?

ASHLEIGH BARTY: Tyz is a massive part of that, without a doubt, but I think I also get the feeling of how the ball feels when I play someone or practice with them.

Like I said, there aren't too many secrets out here anymore. A lot of the time you've practiced with girls or played girls. It's about who can execute the plan better on the day.

When I haven't seen someone play, that's when I'll really lean on Tyz because I know that he's the best at what he does in a sense of giving me a really clear picture of what to expect but also the possible changes and things that can happen. Then it's about giving myself time to adapt and change as I'm playing the match, as well.

But a lot of that comes from experience of feeling the ball either when we've practiced with each other or playing against each other.

I mean, occasionally I'll have a peek at some matches if I haven't seen someone play, but yeah, I don't usually last too long.