AUSTRALIAN OPEN

January 17, 2022

Ashleigh Barty

Press Conference

A. BARTY/L. Tsurenko

6-0, 6-1

THE MODERATOR: Magnificent way to begin your campaign here at the Australian Open. What worked so well for you today?

ASHLEIGH BARTY: Yeah, it was nice and solid tonight. I felt like I did a good job end to end looking after some tough service games into the wind and being able to use it effectively downwind. So I think all in all pretty solid tonight.

THE MODERATOR: Questions, please.

Q. When you're in a situation of 6-Love, 5-Love, match point, do you ever feel sorry for an opponent?

ASHLEIGH BARTY: At that given time I'm thinking it's just the next point over and over. Obviously what I was doing was working and continuing to try and do the right things.

You know, I mean, I have no regard for the score in a sense of putting any extra value on a certain point just because it is match point or whatever the scoreline may be. I try and keep it very process orientated as much as I can.

Q. First Nations Day is coming up. Culturally it's a very important day. What does it mean to you?

ASHLEIGH BARTY: Yeah, it's exciting to be able to celebrate my culture, celebrate the indigenous people of this land. I think it's a brilliant way to bring the community together that's not just sport. It's art, education, so many different facets of our family, you know, of our heritage. I think it's going to be a really special day.

Yeah, exciting that it's coming up so everyone can be a part of it.

Q. Is there anything planned for you on that day?

ASHLEIGH BARTY: As far as I know, I'll be playing. Obviously I'll try and be involved if I can, but I'll definitely be keeping an eye on it. It's going to be a fantastic celebration of the indigenous culture, of the First Nations people. I can't wait to see how it is celebrated because I think it's going to be a beauty of a day.

Q. At what point in your career did things become process orientated, as you said before? Was there ever a point in your career where you did have lapses of concentration where you could think ahead and think about winning and not point by point?

ASHLEIGH BARTY: You still have those distractions without a doubt, but I think it's important to be able to understand those distractions and then accept it and move on pretty quickly and go back to what was working.

Without a doubt, that's been a progression over my career. It's a reflection of the people that are around me, my team. We are very much on the same wavelength and on the same page. I'm still a human being. You still look up and you still get involved in the feelings of what is happening in a match. But being able to reset and come back to doing the routines and doing the things that work has helped me in pretty good stead the last few years.

Q. You're still a very young person and player but you've been around a few Australian Opens and few seasons. Where do you feel you are in your career? Do you feel like you know more or less how things go in tennis?

ASHLEIGH BARTY: I'm right where I am. Where I am at the moment is a product of all the experiences that I have had, the hard learnings, the incredible moments, and I am where I am. We just accept that, we enjoy the journey as we go, we try and be really present and enjoy the moment.

There's always something special about playing on a Monday night in the Australian Open. I think just being here and being able to enjoy that moment regardless of how many times I've done it before or how many different experiences that I've had here at the Australian Open, I think being able to really enjoy the moment for what it is helps me get the most joy out of it.

I think I have been able to do that, like I said, better the last few years of my career, and that is a reflection of the people that are around me. I'm pretty lucky to have those people to help me find a better perspective in life, I suppose.

Q. Just going back to the indigenous cultural aspect, I'm sure you've probably answered this before, but do you remember the first time was that you actually realized those aspects of your life and your family and what it was like? Was it like a light bulb going off, or what?

ASHLEIGH BARTY: Yeah, I do. I remember it was my eldest sister Sara who started the curiosity, I suppose, from my point of view and my other sister Ali, from all three of us we wanted to learn about our family tree. Sara would have been, must have been 10, 11, 12, I would have been 5, 6, 7, around that age where Sara was beginning to learn and understand that we had this really special connection to the land. Then Dad set us down and we kind of went through our family tree and I think it was pretty amazing for us to realize and understand just how connected we are to this Australian land.

I think from that point, all three of us loved the fact that we felt really special and we have this incredible heritage and this incredible connection to so many different people around the nation, a connection to our tribe. And I think that was a really cool learning for us to sit down as us three girls and to genuinely be curious about our heritage. That was a really cool moment and that was led by my older sister Sara.

Q. Great win. 41 consecutive service holds and fourth straight match you have not been broken. Do you recall a stretch that you have experienced anything similar in terms of how well you're getting through your service games right now?

ASHLEIGH BARTY: I mean, I don't know. I'm not one for stats at the best of times. But I think obviously the last kind of five or six matches I felt like I found a really good rhythm on my service games. I've been able to get out of some tricky ones and kind of serve my way out of some tricky spots and play some 30-All points while not fall too far behind in service games has been a massive part of my week in Adelaide and again tonight.

I think I did a pretty good job of winning first and second points. And if I didn't, I was able to call that back and not dig myself into a hole where I was fighting off two or three breakpoints in a row. I think being able to manage service games has been really good, but also not trying to overemphasize the fact that if I do get behind in games it's a bad thing.

You have to just try and do the best you can in that given point. That's worked pretty well so far this year.

Q. Do you the butterflies of walking out on Laver -- obviously you have done it a few times now in terms of your first match at Melbourne Park, but are they the same as they always are, or is there a comfort level at this point? Not that you're chilled out, but you know what it feels like and you manage it better now than maybe you would have before?

ASHLEIGH BARTY: Yeah, I mean, it never changes. I think I'm probably more relaxed before I walk out onto court, but once I do walk out there, it's, for me, always a little bit of a dry mouth and it's exciting to know that we are warming up to play the Australian Open. You have to be able to enjoy these moments and certainly not take them for granted.

So I think it's probably a little bit twofold. I'm quite relaxed before, and I know what I'm going to go out there and try and do, but once you do get out there, there is that five minutes for the warmup and settling in before that first point is played, always nice to settle those butterflies a little bit.