Who is Ash Barty?

James Pavey

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Who is Ash Barty? image

If you haven't watched an Ash Barty match yet, you should.

The best part is, you're not running out of time, and if you miss one of her matches at a tournament, you'll see another two days later.

That's how well she's playing at the moment.

Australia's top-ranked singles player is hungrier than ever to go deep into a Grand Slam, and on home turf, there was no better place to get the Barty party started.

And then, she hit Roland-Garros. Boy, didn't she hit Roland-Garros.

As her career hits top gear, Sporting News takes a look at all things Ash Barty.

Ash Barty at the 2019 French Open

After reaching the quarters in Madrid and the third round in Rome, Barty withdrew from Strasbourg after picking up an arm injury.

She healed in time to take on the French Open and arrived as the eighth seed. From there, Barty was unstoppable en route to her maiden Slam semi appearance.

She defeated American Jessica Pegula in the first round, followed by straight-sets wins over Danielle Collins and veteran Andrea Petkovic.

She then needed three sets to beat Serena-vanquisher Sofia Kenin to reach her second consecutive Grand Slam quarter-final.

There, Barty beat another American in Madison Keys in straight sets to make her first Grand Slam semi-final.

Barty will play the unseeded Amanda Anisimova for a spot in the final.

ash barty

Ash Barty at the 2019 Miami Open

Barty's biggest tournament win to date came at the Miami Open. After being beaten in the fourth round by Elina Svitolina at the Indian Wells Open, Barty then travelled to Miami.

Wins over Dayana Yastremska and Samantha Stosur preceded a fourth round upset of world No. 8 Kiki Bertens.

Barty then took her first win in five career meetings against Petra Kvitova, guaranteeing her rise into the top 10. She won through to the final after beating Anett Kontaveit in the semis.

In the final, Barty downed Karolína Plíšková to mark her first career Premier Mandatory/Premier 5 title.

Ash Barty in the 2019 Fed Cup

Alicia Molik's Australian team travelled to Asheville in North Carolina to take on the United States.

It was a mouth-watering tie, and Barty kicked Australia into an early lead as she swept past Sofia Kenin  6-1 7-6(2). However, 2017 US Open finalist Madison Keys downed Kimberly Birrell to bring USA level.

Barty then wiped the floor with Keys 24 hours later , the Aussie powering past the American 6-4 6-1 in 66 minutes. Barty needed to work hard after a poor start - after trailing 0-3 in the first set, Barty won 12 of the final 14 games to seal the win.

However, when Daria Gavrilova went down to surprise Australian Open semi-finalist Danielle Collins, the tie was again level ahead of the deciding doubles rubber.

Barty joined forces with Priscilla Hon to take on Collins and Nicole Melichar, and the Aussie duo looked in fine touch after claiming a topsy-turvy first set. It was much of the same in the second, with breaks aplenty - but Hon managed to serve out the match as Australia sealed a home semi-final  against Belarus in April. For Hon, it was a "dream come true"  as she said time spent alongside Barty was crucial in her development over the past year.

"I've spent a bit of time with Ash," Hon said of her mate. "Being able to train with Ash and see what she does every day and how focused she is. Obviously her game style I love, so I can always look up to her and see what she does well and learn from that."

Ash Barty Priscilla Hon

Ash Barty at the 2019 Australian Open

Just days after going down to Petra Kvitova in the Sydney International final , Barty kicked off her Australian Open campaign with a crushing 6-2 6-2 win over Thailand's Luksika Kumkhum.

The Aussie was imperious, wrapping up the match in 57 minutes  as Kumkhum watched the ball sail by, time after time, game after game, set after set.

Barty then moved into a second round clash with China's Yafan Wang. 64-ranked Wang didn't stand a chance either, Barty cruising through in 65 minutes , 6-2 6-3.

Against Wang, Barty cleaned up the first set in just 28 minutes, before pacing herself in the second to set up a third round match-up with Greece's Maria Sakkari.

Poor Sakkari didn't stand too much of a chance either, Barty needing 82 minutes to wrap up a 7-5 6-1 demolition job .

Barty later earned the biggest win of her career to date with a  three-set epic over Maria Sharapova . 

After dropping the first set, Barty stormed back to take the second 6-1 and held on for the third 6-4. 

The victory marked the first time she's made a grand slam quarter-final, where she went into a match-up with two-time Wimbledon champ Petra Kvitova. 

Kvitova had earned a nail-biting win over Barty in the final of the Sydney International a week earlier, but in Melbourne, the Czech leftie turned up in a big way to win in straight sets  6-1 6-4.

After the match, the two friends spoke fonly of each other, with two great stories on show  - one a player back to her best after suffering horrific injuries from a home intruder, and the other a young hopeful playing with her country on her shoulders.

Ash Barty Petra Kvitova

Biography

Date of birth: 24 April 1996 (age 23)

Place of birth: Ipswich, Queensland

Height:  1.65 m (5 ft 5 in)

Weight: 62kg (137lbs)

Playing style:  Right-handed (two-handed backhand)

Turned pro: 2010

Prize money:  US$7,466,380

Highest ranking: No. 8

Current ranking: No. 8

Background

Born in Ipswich, Barty was raised by a father who works in government, and a mother that works as a radiographer. She has two older sisters named Sara and Ali.

She also played netball growing up, but started playing tennis at four under junior coach Jim Joyce, who made allowances for coaching her from such a young age considering her remarkable hand-eye coordination and high focus. She later worked with Scott Draper at the National Academy, before Jason Stoltenberg took over as her main coach when she was 15.

Having been on tour for a while afterwards, Barty took a hiatus from tennis in 2014, and pursued cricket. "[Tennis] was too much too quickly for me as I've been travelling from quite a young age... I wanted to experience life as a normal teenaged girl and have some normal experiences," she said at the time, as she was ranked No.40 in singles.

She hadn't played cricket when she was young, but impressed the right people at the right time with her skills to progress at a rapid rate. In July 2015, she began training with Women's WCL side Queensland Fire, as well as Twenty20 for Brisbane's Women's Premier Cricket club. Solid performances led to a contract with Brisbane Heat for the inaugural Women's Big Bash League (WBBL).

Barty is a huge sports fan - she loves AFL club Richmond, English Premier League powerhouse Manchester United, and NRL side Wests Tigers.


Racking up Grand Slam appearances

Barty made her Grand Slam singles debut as a 15-year-old in Melbourne, but was ousted in straight sets by Anna Tatishvili. It wouldn't take her long to win a Grand Slam match, beating Lucie Hradecká at the 2013 French Open before losing to Maria Kirilenko.

Having missing the 2015 and 2016 seasons due to her hiatus, Barty returned with a bang in 2017 in Melbourne, beating Annika Beck and Shelby Rogers to reach the third round where she lost to Mona Barthel.

Her 2017 was a ripper - after her Melbourne breakout, she won the Malaysian Open in the singles and doubles events, marking her first career WTA singles title and helping her enter the top 100 for the first time. She also reached the third round at the US Open, where she lost to eventual champion Sloane Stephens. Up to No.37, she reached a Premier 5 final at the Wuhan Open, having defeated three top ten players in No.7 Johanna Konta, No.4 Karolína Plíšková, and No.10 Jeļena Ostapenko. Despite losing the final to Caroline Garcia in three sets, Barty rose to No.23 in the world and qualified for the WTA Elite Trophy at the end of the season.

2018 was even better - she reached no lower than the second round at all Grand Slams, and it all peaked in New York. She reached the fourth round for the first time in a Grand Slam, beating Ons Jabeur, Lucie Šafářová and Karolína Muchová en route to a clash with Karolína Plíšková. However, while Plíšková claimed victory in their match, Barty wasn't done yet - she teamed up with CoCo Vandeweghe to win the women's doubles final , marking Barty's first Grand Slam title. It was a welcome result after losing four finals alongside Casey Dellacqua.


James Pavey

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