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Ashleigh Barty Australian Open 2020
Australian Open, Tennis News, WTA Tennis Players

‘I’ve earned it’ – Ashleigh Barty not surprised by form after stunning double-bagel win


Ashleigh Barty says her form has come as no surprise after she opened her Australian Open campaign with a 6-0, 6-0 win over Danka Kovinic.

Barty started the Australian summer having not played a match for almost a year due to the coronavirus crisis.

She, though, has now won all five of her matches since and won the Yarra Valley Classic last week.

However, despite her lengthy absence from tennis, Barty says her performances have not exceeded her expectations – because she has earned them.

“I know deep down my team and I have done the work. Weā€™ve earned the right to play at this level,ā€ Ashleigh Barty explained.

ā€œThereā€™s always a little bit of the unknown at the start of a season, particularly after such a long break, of what that level might be, knowing thereā€™s every chance itā€™s not going to be exactly where we want it straight away.

ā€œBut thatā€™s the challenge, is coming out here every day and trying to bring my best stuff on that given day.

“And I think knowing that weā€™ve done the work during preseason, done the work over the years, I feel comfortable in my own skin to go out there and find away, whether the tennis is great or itā€™s not, I know Iā€™ve got other weapons that I can go to, not just hitting a tennis ball.

ā€œI want to challenge myself to be the complete player. I want to challenge myself to grow and develop every single day, both as a human and as a tennis player.”


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Michael Graham, Tennishead.net Editor, has been a professional sports journalist for his whole career and is especially passionate about tennis. He's been the Editor of Tennishead.net for over 5 years and loves watching live tennis by visiting as many tournaments as possible. Michael specialises in writing in-depth features about the ATP & WTA tours.