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WIMBLEDON

July 3, 2011

Ashleigh Barty

LONDON, ENGLAND

A. BARTY/I. Khromacheva
7-5, 7-6

THE MODERATOR: Ladies and gentlemen, Ashleigh Barty.

Q. You're not a very demonstrative winner. You didn't get very excited. I just saw a little fist pump. Were you overwhelmed? Is that how you normally are?
ASHLEIGH BARTY: I don't normally get too excited. Yeah, I just try and keep it pretty simple. That's just my personality really.

Q. Have you heard from Evonne?
ASHLEIGH BARTY: She sent me a text message after my match saying congratulations. I really like that. We're close. Yeah, I'm really pleased to be able to talk to her like that.

Q. How important has she been to you?
ASHLEIGH BARTY: She's a nice person to talk to. She gives me good confidence, and I'm happy to be a part of her life really.

Q. You seem very composed. She came back in the second set. You had a break lead in there. Nothing seems to ruffle you. Are you a calm player?
ASHLEIGH BARTY: I guess that's my personality again. I try not to get too rattled over everything. I think we're pretty much complete opposite personalities.
But underneath there were a little nerves, but I think that's just my personality. That's how I act on court.

Q. In the first set you were down 2-4, 40-15. You really turned it round, a couple of aces. Did you sort of at that point have a bit of a talk to yourself? What went through your mind?
ASHLEIGH BARTY: I think I was just able to stick in there. I was never going to give up. It's the final of junior Wimbledon. I keep trying my guts out for every point. I was able to get a few good points in a row and upset her a little bit.

Q. When she did start, she started to get a bit cross with herself obviously. She making some calls there. Was that positive for you?
ASHLEIGH BARTY: Yes and no. What she does is her business really. I pretty much just try and focus on what I'm doing.
But I noticed it a little bit, and I think that's able to give me a little bit more confidence, as well.
Q. Have you talked to your family at all?
ASHLEIGH BARTY: Yeah. I rang mum and dad. They're pretty excited, so that's good.

Q. Did you wake them up?
ASHLEIGH BARTY: I think they were watching the match the whole time, which is great.

Q. Do you know who Debbie Freeman is?
ASHLEIGH BARTY: No, I don't. I know she won it maybe 30, 31 years ago, the juniors, but I'm not actually sure who she is.

Q. There was another anniversary 31 years ago when Evonne won the ladies' title here. What does it mean to you to achieve this result on that anniversary?
ASHLEIGH BARTY: It's pretty special. As I say, I talk to Evonne quite a bit. It's great to share that experience with her, even at the junior level.

Q. You lost in the first round in Australia and second round at Roland Garros. Now here you're the champion. Have you felt the progression in your game and your improvement? Do you think this was luck or...
ASHLEIGH BARTY: I'd like to think it wasn't luck. I think I'm just becoming more comfortable with the Grand Slam process and being here and mixing in with the pros.
Yeah, I'm really enjoying it.

Q. Was this the result that you expected when you came into the tournament?
ASHLEIGH BARTY: I didn't put any expectations on myself coming to the tournament. I just wanted to come here and gain some experience. I was happy to get past the first round, let alone win it. So I'm really proud of what I've achieved this week.

Q. How good was it to have all the other Australian juniors out there watching today?
ASHLEIGH BARTY: It was good. I'm close with a lot of boys as well because there's no other girls with me. All us Aussies are pretty close. It was good to get support from them today.

Q. You're clearly very mature for your age. What kind of stuff do you do sort of like a regular 15-year-old in your real life?
ASHLEIGH BARTY: I'm not sure really. A lot of my life is about tennis. When I'm not at tennis I go to school. I just hang out with my friends and try to be pretty normal.

Q. Do you fly home tonight so you'll miss the ball?
ASHLEIGH BARTY: We're not sure yet. But, yeah, we'll have a chat about that later.

Q. What does a 15-year-old do to celebrate something like this? Will you keep it till you get home?
ASHLEIGH BARTY: Yeah, I'll probably keep it till I get home and just share it with my family. Probably won't do too much. Just have some fun, maybe have a family barbecue. I'm not sure.

Q. Play-wise, what's up for you next?
ASHLEIGH BARTY: I have a bit of a training block coming up, so probably won't be playing tournaments till just before US Open. So I've got quite a big stint to work on physicality, mentality, a bit of just finding out my game a bit.

Q. Are you starting to get the concept of Australia is on the other side of the world and there's going to be a lot of travel for you?
ASHLEIGH BARTY: Yeah, I understood that last year. I was traveling a lot. I'm not going to travel quite as much this year. But, yeah, I'm learning that. I'm finding it a little bit difficult. It's something you have to put up with as a tennis player.

Q. You'll be going first class maybe when you're playing.
ASHLEIGH BARTY: Maybe (smiling).

Q. What aspect of your game this week has given you the most pleasure?
ASHLEIGH BARTY: I'm not too sure about that. I think my whole game's just come together pretty nicely. Able to mix it up well on the grass. Yeah, I've really enjoyed playing here.

Q. What's the importance of having people like Nic Pratt and Jason Stolz working with you?
ASHLEIGH BARTY: It's been good. They've been able to share their experiences. This morning Jace gave me a bit of a pep talk. He was a semifinalist here. He's been here, done that. He coached Lleyton Hewitt to world No. 1 and to this title.
Just to be able to share those experiences with those guys is really special.

Q. You found the surface okay. You slipped a couple times on the baseline.
ASHLEIGH BARTY: You're always going to slip on grass. Such is life. You can't do much about it. You just have to move on.

Q. How did you get into tennis originally?
ASHLEIGH BARTY: My sisters play net ball, and we just drove past the tennis courts each day. I didn't want to play net ball. Whacking a ball around a court seemed fun. I thought I'd give it a go.

Q. Today's style a lot of the younger players want to bash the ball, it's all about power. You seem to have a much more all-around style. Is that on design or just happenstance?
ASHLEIGH BARTY: Yeah, I was fortunate enough when I was young, my coach, Jim Joyce, he taught me all the shots. He said to me, If you're going to play this sport, you're going to play every shot and you're going to learn how to play it properly.
I'm real fortunate to have someone like Jim teach me the basics when I was young.

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