Barty embraces Australian fighting spirit

Ashleigh Barty has taken the game by storm with her playing style, but she also wants to known for her mental strength.

The 23-year-old won 57 matches in 2019, coming from a set down more than 12 times, including overcoming a set and a break deficit in the French Open semifinals on her way to the title. Her record in three-set matches was 19-6.

"I think that's an Australian quality. We all want to be known as fighters," Barty said. "I certainly want to be known, when my career is done, as someone who was respected by their peers, gave everything on the court and never kind of rolled over but played the game in the right spirit."

She also won titles at the Miami Open, Birmingham and WTA Finals.

"Hopefully, I'm hitting all those things and just trying to give yourself a chance to stay in each match," she said. "You never know what can happen in sport. There are no guarantees, no certainties and just staying in the game as long as you can is really important."

The world No. 1 ended her season by being named the WTA Player of the Year.

Her coach Craig Tyzzer won the Coach of the Year award. Barty does use on-court coaching at WTA events, but didn't need it to win Roland Garros (on-court coaching isn't allowed at Grand Slams).

"There are times where it does help me. There are times when I don't use it,” Barty said. "If anything, it's more just to get a different voice. It's there to use, so I figure why not use it when it's in the rule book and you're allowed to. If you can use it effectively, it's a positive thing. Tyzz does an incredible job of keeping it very simple.

"But in also saying that, we play the Grand Slams without it and I have no issue trying to figure it out by myself and problem solve by myself. That's all part of the jigsaw puzzle that's our game."