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My Very Mini Biofile with Miami Open Champ Ash Barty
6 Comments · Posted by Scoop Malinowski in Scoop
By Scoop Malinowski
Ash Barty scored the biggest singles win of her WTA career today, besting Karolina Pliskova 76 63. The 22 year old Aussie was in great spirits after her glorious triumph and even answered three Biofile question in her post match press conference.
Q. The greatest moment of your career? Most painful moment of your career? Why do you love playing tennis?
ASHLEIGH BARTY: Greatest moment of my career is definitely Fed Cup moment. I think playing the doubles match with Casey (Dellacqua) last year in her last-ever match in Fed Cup to win the tie.
What was the second one? Most painful. Oh, there is too many (smiling). I’m not going to lie. I think Sydney hurt this year, losing in the final (to Petra Kvitova). That hurt, for sure. I mean, I think that’s why I keep coming back. That’s why I love the sport is that you have these amazing moments and you have these heartbreaking moments. But the journey in the middle is pretty bloody good.
First Memory of Tennis: My first lesson with Jim Joyce twenty years ago (age 4). We always went on the exact same court, with a big smile on my face. I used to play against the wall of the house as soon as I got home from school.Â
Why Do You Love Tennis: I love every aspect of it. I love the challenge. Every week is a new challenge. To travel around the globe, it’s a beautiful life. I love that about this sport.Â
Favorite Sports To Watch Outside Tennis: Cricket, Aussie Rules, I watch Aussie sports actually more than tennis. I enjoy all smaller ball sports.
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Barty, who will be ranked 9 in the WTA next week, has now won four WTA singles titles.
Ash Barty · Australia · Fila · Head tennis · Miami Open
catherine · March 31, 2019 at 2:11 am
Well, good on Ashleigh. And great to see an Australian woman in the top ten again.
BTW Scoop – I noticed a tweet from Gabriela Sabatini congatulating Ash on her win. Did you see Gabriela in Miami ? I’d have been interested in her comments on Steffi – although it was always quite difficult to get anything much from Gabriela in English, or Spanish actually, although she did talk in a program about Steffi a few years ago – in Spanish with German subtitles so not much use to me. Is she doing coaching or anything like that now ?
Hartt · March 31, 2019 at 8:22 am
Ash Barty is in the top 10 in both singles and doubles, the only player on either tour to do that. In an interview on the WTA Insider Podcast after yesterday’s win, Ash talked about how much she loves doubles.
But apparently she has not been a fan of clay. Courtney reminded her that last year she said that each week on clay is one week closer to grass. Now Ash says that she sees the weeks on clay as an opportunity to learn.
Scoop Malinowski · March 31, 2019 at 10:14 am
Did not see Gaby here, wish I had a chance to interview her for the first time. Biofile would be interesting
Scoop Malinowski · March 31, 2019 at 10:17 am
Barry is such an interesting story and person, how she walked away from tennis for years and then came back better than ever. Two years of no tennis actually helped her and did not stunt her development. Fascinating outsude the box thinking. Bold move. Fortune favors the brave.
catherine · March 31, 2019 at 11:14 am
I suspect one of the reasons Ashleigh plays doubles is to relieve the stresses of the touring life, which she found difficult as a younger player. Doesn’t seem to affect her singles play.
Maybe Simona could play more doubles 🙂 Kerber ? Wild horses wouldn’t get Angie on a doubles court (except Hopman Cup and Olympics) but doubles play certainly didn’t harm Navratilova’s career, and a few others.
Scoop Malinowski · March 31, 2019 at 12:47 pm
Or Catherine, Barty’s early doubles success was based on her love of the doubles format and being a part of a team. Maybe she is a more doubles oriented personality who willed herself to become a top singles player. She continues to enjoy doubles even with her singles success.