Ashleigh Barty had a spectacular season last year. The 23-year-old won her first major title at the French Open. She also finished the year as world number one. The Australian won the WTA Finals in Shenzhen to cap off an incredible season. Barty won her first title of the season at the Adelaide International earlier this month and she qualified for the semifinals of the Australian Open on Tuesday. The current world number one credits Craig Tyzzer for her success.
Craig and Barty’s achievements
After a successful juniors career, Ashleigh took a break from tennis to focus on playing cricket. However, she returned to the game in 2016. At the time, the 18-year-old Barty linked up with her current coach Craig Tyzzer. The two have since gone on to have incredible success. After making it to the finals in various tournaments in 2017 and 2018, things came together for Barty last year. She won four WTA titles, winning at the Miami Open and Birmingham in addition to her WTA Finals and French Open victories.
2019 Coach of the Year
Craig won the WTA Coach of The Year award in 2019 following Barty’s success on the court. The award also recognized his contributions as an ambassador for the game. He strongly supports women’s tennis and serves as a Gold Member on the WTA Coach Program. The program organizes conferences and workshops aimed at advancing women’s tennis. Ashleigh has praised her coach for his dedication. “He’s incredibly diligent with what he does and that’s why he’s the best.” She was speaking after she defeated Petra Kvitova in straight sets on Tuesday in their quarterfinal match at the Australian Open.
Barty vs Sofia Kenin prediction
The Australian will face American Sofia Kenin in the semifinal on Thursday. The 23-year-old is the current favorite to win the title. Pre-tournament favorites such as Naomi Osaka and Serena Williams exited early in the tournament. She has faced Sofia five times, winning on four occasions. Sofia defeated Tunisian Ons Jabeur in her quarterfinal match to set up the semifinal clash with Barty. She had defeated Coco Gauff in the previous round.
Ashleigh will be the favorite to advance to the final and could win the match in straight sets. The remaining quarterfinal matches will take place on Wednesday. Simona Halep will play Anett Kontaveit in the first match of the day while Garbine Muruguza will face Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova in the last quarterfinal match of the tournament.
Barty at the Australian Open, ranking, and results in 2020
Currently ranked no.1, the Australian has a 9-1 win-loss record in 2020. Barty is now competing at the Australian Open where she bested Lesya Tsurenko 5-7 6-1 6-1, Polona Hercog 6-1 6-4, Elena Rybakina 6-3 6-2, Alison Riske 6-3 1-6 6-4 and Petra Kvitova 7-66 6-2.
Ashleigh Barty will compete against Kenin in the semifinal. The head to head is 4-1 for Barty.
The last time that they fought against each other, Barty won 6-3 7-5 in the 3rd round in Wuhan (Wuhan Open) in September 2019.
Barty has won 1 title in 2020 in Adelaide.
The Australian won 8 titles in her career: 4 on hard courts, 1 on clay courts, 1 on indoor courts and 2 on grass courts. (See the list of her titles)
Ashleigh Barty |
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