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NATURE VALLEY CLASSIC


June 22, 2019


Ashleigh Barty


Birmingham, England

A. BARTY/B. Strycova

6-4, 6-4

Q. A good match today. Barbora can cause some kinds of consternation on court. What is it about her game that can be particularly challenging?
ASHLEIGH BARTY: She has the ability to play with so much variety and adapt her game style to who she's playing, and I think that is one of her biggest strengths. If something is not working, she has options to go to and she can go to options, B, C, D, all the way through the alphabet, she has that many shots and kind of, shots in her arsenal.

And she can go to so many different things and play so many different styles. So it was important for me today to try and almost make it a little bit of a boring match and make it a little bit kind of serve and first shot and dominate on my part anyway.

Q. There was a moment when both of you were coming in with big smiles on your face, in the middle of a rally, what was going through your mind then?
ASHLEIGH BARTY: I hit a pretty good volley on that one (smiling). And she's run in, she said, "No way." I wanted to put it there, but it was a bit shorter than I thought it would be.

Q. You played Venus in the last round, a legend on the surface, then you come in to play today and the spotlight is more on you, you are kind of more the favourite to win and there were two players there, as we have spoken of, just with two different game styles, how do you handle that transition?
ASHLEIGH BARTY: There's a transition from every single singles match. Every time you step on the court it's a different opponent, it's a different occasion and I have to try and adapt and be as well prepared as possible for that particular person and that's all that I can control, try and do that on my half, and if I'm able to execute on the day, it's a bonus.

Q. Your focus in general is pretty exemplary. How do you manage to maintain that focus across tournaments, across surfaces, is there any particular strategy, not to give too much away to your opponents but...
ASHLEIGH BARTY: I think in general it's important to make sure I'm focussed and prepared on the court but there's also a very big element from my team to make sure that we enjoy each other's company and have fun off the court so there is a component of switching off and not having to focus every single minute of every single day.

There are certainly times where tennis is on the back-burner and we are not thinking about it at all, so it is really important for me to be able to have that ability to switch on and off but then importantly on when I need to.

Q. Do you compartmentalise things really well, given you have so many things on at the moment? The title, possible No. 1, the channel slam, how do you deal with those mental things?
ASHLEIGH BARTY: I keep it very simple. I don't focus on them at all. They are things I can't control necessarily. I have to try and do what I can do and that is prepare and do as best that I can tomorrow and try and play a good tennis match and if I win, it's a bonus. There are all things that come with it. But those things are certainly not what I'm worried about.

It is not going to change the way that I sleep at night, if I don't get there or not. If it happens, it happens. If it doesn't, it doesn't.

Q. Expectation, is that something you ignore? Back home there is huge interest, quite rightly? Do you just ignore that, the messages coming in?
ASHLEIGH BARTY: I don't ignore it. I have support and love coming from all over the world. It's been incredible the amount of support that I have received, particularly from Australians. But it's not something that I ignore, not by any means. It's there, it is just -- there is not really much I can do about it. I'm trying to go out there and do my thing on the court and kind of let that do the talking.

Q. You have so much variety in your game. Do you think one of the best things about you is that you are able to neutralise your opponent's strengths frequently? I have seen it in every match this week.
ASHLEIGH BARTY: Yeah, It's something I try to do, I think. When I'm in a defensive position I have to try to neutralise as much as possible to bring it back to the game style that I want to play. Most of the time I want to be in control of the point and I want to be able to use my forehand to control the point and when I can't, it is nice to have that variety to be able to neutralise when I can.

Q. That is very much a conscious strategy to take away your opponent's strengths?
ASHLEIGH BARTY: Yes, absolutely (smiling).

Q. How pleased were you with the way you served under pressure particularly in that second set?
ASHLEIGH BARTY: Yeah, I felt like I had really good rhythm on my serve today. I knew it was important I could get up and try and hit my spots as much as possible and put the pressure back on Barbora to try and come up some bigger serves on her service game, so it was really nice to get out some tricky situations with some serves when I needed them.

Q. You are also playing in the doubles with Julia later today? How do you cope with playing so much tennis? What is your methods of just relaxing after you have played a tough singles match?
ASHLEIGH BARTY: I enjoy it (smiling). I enjoy playing both singles and doubles and yes there are weeks where we are a little more busy playing singles and doubles but there are also weeks when one is quieter and it can help out the other. I mean, I really do enjoy playing doubles and singles as well so, yeah, when I play we make sure we go out there and have fun.

Q. Julia won the first set. Can you talk about the two possible opponents?
ASHLEIGH BARTY: Yeah, I played Jules here last year. She's got an incredibly destructive game which this week has been on my side of the net, which has been very nice. She has the ability to control the game from the get-go and if I play Jules, it will be important to try and bring in that variety and neutralise as much as possible.

Now, Petra, I'm not sure if we have played before, I can't remember. But she's got the ability on this surface in particular with her slice to neutralise. She's got a great serve and she can really look after her service games very well, so I think for either of those matches, I'll have to play a little bit differently, but we will wait and see what that is.

FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports

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