Ashleigh Barty news: World No 1’s coach still thinks she can improve after glory in Melbourne

Tennis News
Ashleigh Barty Australian Open celebrations

Last week Ashleigh Barty was crowned the 2022 Australian Open champion after she beat Danielle Collins in the final, making her the first Aussie to win the season opening Grand Slam in 44 years.

The world No 1 now has three Grand Slam titles to her name and has been in the top spot in the rankings for 113th weeks overall, and counting – but her coach Craig Tyzzer still thinks she has room for improvement, despite admitting she’s come a long way over the past three years.

“There are still areas we are working on and she needs to improve – I won’t tell you which ones because I would reveal too many secrets, but she still has room for improvement,” Tyzzer revealed during a press conference following Barty’s victory.

“What I think she does best of all is she enjoys herself, she enjoys playing, for example tonight we knew of the pitfalls Danielle Collins would bring – how do we beat a player who hits corners and kills you if you drop a short ball? For her, this is the best part.

“I think her consistency, her ability to play and adapt to different players, even today in different conditions was her great improvement – she is a much better tennis player than she was in 2019.”

Although the 24-year-old won Wimbledon last year and played in the US Open, she couldn’t play at Roland Garros due to injury and she had to bow out for the remainder of the season after reaching the third round at Flushing Meadows due to exhaustion, but Tyzzer thinks this did her the world of good.

Tyzzer explained: “She needed to take a break after Wimbledon, we played a little more than expected, she was exhausted, she is very tired mentally.

“She worked hard to win at Wimbledon and put a lot of pressure on herself to get to the US Open, but she struggled there.

“She didn’t make sense to play at the end of the season, that’s why I told her to drop everything, go to the preseason and wait for the Australian summer.”

And that’s exactly what Barty did, she missed out on Indian Wells, the WTA Finals and the Billie Jean King Cup Finals, but ultimately it helped her add to her tally of major titles and achieve her first Grand Slam win on home soil.

Ashleigh Barty

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