Ashleigh Barty (left) and Karolína Plískova posing for photographs following a friendly match played at Msheireb Downtown Doha.
World No.1 Ashleigh Barty yesterday declared she is well rested and ready to get back on court after a hectic few weeks of hard-fought tennis matches in January.
Barty, who won the WTA Finals in Singapore at the end of last season, kicked off the 2020 season with a title win in Adelaide before losing the Australian Open semi-final to Sofia Kenin last month.
“I feel good. I needed to have an extra few days off just to let my body settle,” Barty, 23, said yesterday.
“We had a couple little niggles going on after the Australian Open. I would have loved to have been able to play last week (in Dubai) and this week -- I’ve never played either of these tournaments, so it’s kind of a new thing for me -- but it was nice to spend some time at home with my family,” the affable Australian, who won the French Open last year, added.
“It was nice (to get time off). And then to get into a bit of training and then to come here and experience something new for the first time. It’s rare that we kind of get that - we play the same tournaments and the same kind of calendar throughout the year so it’s nice to experience something new, something fresh and really exciting,” Barty said ahead of her first match on Qatari soil.
Barty’s busy schedule in January - when she played 11 high profile matches - she did not touch the racket for almost two weeks after losing a two-setter in Melbourne against Kenin.
“I think it was about 10 days of no racket and then, yeah, just because I needed to give myself those extra few days (of rest),” Barty said yesterday.
“In a perfect world, it probably would have been just under a week and then kind of close to a full week leading up to Dubai, but I had to give myself that extra time just to make sure that it didn’t derail the rest of my season,” she explained.
“Sometimes you have to make those kind of decisions to make sure that in the long-term you are looking after yourself. So it was nice to have those kind of 10 days, but, yeah, I feel really good now. It’s beautiful conditions here and I really like it,” Barty said.
“But like I said, for me this is a new place to visit, a new experience, a new culture and, yeah, I’m loving it,” Barty said.
The Australian said improving her game would be a key element moving forward.
“First and foremost there’s no pressure for me to stay as No. 1. All of the girls that are pushing me, challenging me. We’re making each other better tennis players and I think the best thing is we all challenge each other every single day,” Barty said.
“All I’m trying to do is improve every single day and regardless of whether I stay at that No. 1 ranking or I don’t, I try and do the right things every single day,” she added.
Barty admitted her comeback in 2016 - following a two-year hiatus - produced good results.
“It’s been an incredible ride for me since I came back into the sport. Obviously I had a different phase during my journey and through my life of playing different sports and different things like that, but it’s been amazing coming back into the sport. I’ve had a great three years almost now fully back on Tour so it’s been fantastic,” Barty said.
Barty said her overall good form in January was hugely satisfying.
“I felt obviously it was a tough start in Brisbane, but it was nice just to kind of get my feet wet again and get back into competition mode,” Barty said.
“And then to fight like I did in Adelaide and to scrap through like that is amazing. To win a title on home soil was very special. We only get to play in Australia for that month of the year, so it was really nice that I was able to make the most of that. Particularly I think with the history of the tournament in Adelaide, in the past, it’s incredible. And to kind of put my name on that brand new trophy was unbelievable. It’s something that’s very close to my heart as well.
“Then to have a very, very successful Australian Open was exciting. Obviously it was disappointing not to have been there on the final Saturday, but a semi-final of a Slam doesn’t happen every single week. So I think all-in-all though there was disappointment, there was positivity, but it was a fantastic month,” Barty said.
Barty, who played cricket during her two-year break from tennis in 2014, said she had fun away from the court.
“I think every sport is different and obviously when I had my break I wasn’t sure whether I would play tennis again or not. I didn’t say that I never would, I didn’t say that I definitely would.
"It was what it was. Cricket is a massive part of Australian culture. It’s an incredible sport and I think there were bits and pieces that helped each other,” Barty said.
“I think my tennis helped my cricket and my cricket helped my tennis in a way, in a bizarre way. But, no, it was, it was experiences that I loved.
"I met new people, met a new kind of group and circle of friends and had all these new experiences that I definitely learned from,” she added.
And what she thinks of Novak Djokovic, the Australian Open champion and the men’s world No.1?
“Novak’s incredible. Obviously for him the start of the year has been incredible in Australia. I think Australians see him having a little bit of that Aussie spirit, having won so many times Down Under. I know that he’s an incredible athlete, he’s an incredible ambassador for our sport. He’s a great person to bring our sport into the light. I think he’s a really good ambassador,” Barty said.
