Player of the day: Barty blows past Svitolina in Miami

What makes Ashleigh Barty sleep well at night? It's not holding onto her No. 1 ranking, but instead working hard and enjoying the game. The 24-year-old easily moved past an always-tough Elina Svitolina, 6-3, 6-3, to reach her second consecutive Miami Open final.

It's safe to say she will have another good night's rest.

Heading into the semifinal she was reminded by a reporter that if she won she would remain atop the WTA rankings. The Aussie was philosophical in response.

"It's an amazing thing to be No. 1 in the world at the moment, but I promise you that's not what makes me happy. That's not what makes me a happy person. Whether I'm No. 1 or No. 10 or I'm anything in between or whatever number it is, that number for me doesn't determine if I'm a happy person or a happy tennis player," she told press on Tuesday.

Miami marks her first international tournament in over a year, but with the way she's playing that hasn't seemed to matter much. Barty's win is her second in a row over Svitolina, and narrows their head-to-head to 5-2. Following her victory she sat down with Tennis Channel host Prakash Amritraj to talk about her progression throughout the 1000-level event.

"I think every time you get on the court you're able to try to improve and grow every single day, and I think that's come with every single match," she said. "Every single match I've done something a little bit better and that's all you can ask, right? Just try to get a little better each day, that one percent—that half a percent, just try to do things the right way each day."

Barty awaits the winner between Bianca Andreescu and Maria Sakkari.

QUICK FACTS:

1

Captured one major title at Roland Garros in 2019

2

Finished year-end No. 1 on two occasions (2019/2020)

9

WTA singles titles won