Ashleigh Barty wins the Adelaide International 2022.

WTA 500, Adelaide International 2022: The World No.1 Ashleigh Barty starts the 2022 season with a bang winning the WTA 500 title and waiting to grab the Australian Open title too.

Winning her 14th title had some obstacles in the way like the defending champion Iga Swiatek, and Elena Rybakina. Barty only lost one set and that too against Coco Gauff in the second round after which she flipped the switch to a different level.

The Australian finished the tournament winning 35 service games straight. There was only one moment against Gauff being a set and a breakdown, but after that, she would just face only four breakpoints. Also, she blasted 17 aces against Kenin in the quarterfinals.

“I felt my serve was a bit of a dominant factor this week,” Barty told WTA Insider. “I think through that first match with Coco I struggled with rhythm a bit and found it towards the end of the second set and start of the third. Then I think I did a good job through the rest of those matches of controlling my service games, controlling the tempo of the match with my service games.”

“I felt my serve was a bit of a dominant factor this week,” Barty told WTA Insider. “I think through that first match with Coco I struggled with rhythm a bit and found it towards the end of the second set and start of the third. Then I think I did a good job through the rest of those matches of controlling my service games, controlling the tempo of the match with my service games.”

WTA Insider: What’s your biggest takeaway from this title run in Adelaide? 

Barty: What I take the most is the fact that we were able to be really present and have a lot of clarity in each and every match. I felt like tactically I was able to do what Tyzz and I wanted to do this week. I had that really fresh mindset and just played with freedom and played my brand of tennis. When my back was against the wall I was able to produce some pretty good stuff.

WTA Insider: Last year, whether it was wanting to win Miami or Wimbledon, you were quite open about putting your goals out there and then chasing them. Are there concrete things you’re chasing this year?

Barty: Within my team, we’re all very much on the same page, which is a great thing. We kind of don’t even need to have the conversation to know what we’re feeling is next in a sense of goals and dreams. Being able to sometimes separate them and understand that a dream is a dream and a goal is a little bit different was an important factor for me last year. 

As we progressed through last year, the goals changed quite quickly and there was a big focus after Wimbledon to try and hold on to that No.1 ranking for the end of the season. That was something that I really wanted and probably wasn’t done until after Wimbledon that I realized that it was something that I wanted so badly. 

We’re all very much on the same page for my goals this year and for my dreams. I’m looking forward to giving it the best shot that I have and if it works out, it does. And if it doesn’t, it doesn’t. But yeah, we’re all very clear on kind of what I want and as a team, what we want.