With enriched composition, the Art of Barty is an emerging phenomenon

Talented. Purposeful. Obsessed. These are just a few traits common among champions.

Considerate. Appreciative. Humble. These are just a handful of qualities that make Ashleigh Barty a champion like few others.

Barty’s aptitude propelled her to win junior Wimbledon at 15. It also led to burnout and a respite from the courts just three years later. She turned to playing cricket for the Brisbane Heat, but her passion for tennis never died. The time Barty spent without the pressures placed on a prodigy, without leaving tournaments empty-handed, without swallowing cups of loneliness on the tour, was a gift. It allowed the Australian to process the goals she wished to fulfill, goals that involved carving strokes with her racquet to create masterpieces.

By January 2019, Barty’s story long had abolished the narrative of a comeback. Having never been inside the Top 100 singles rankings before her hiatus, Barty’s reawakening evolved into the arrival of an artist. Her color wheel was always elaborate—piercing kick serves, dynamic forehands, deft volleys, delicate drop shots, sublime slices. Now in her 20s and ranked well inside the Top 20, Barty brought enriched composition to her canvas.

“Once you get a taste of it, you’re always hungry for more,” Barty said in Melbourne, after appearing in her first Grand Slam quarterfinal. “I’ve always been extremely driven and passionate, especially coming back this second time around, about how I’ve wanted to go about things. I think, more importantly, I’ve begun to understand better off the court how I can enjoy it more and enjoy the process, trust the process, get the results that we’re after.”

“We’re after”—when the Queenslander speaks about her ambitions and achievements, it’s rarely “I.” Barty is quick to assert that her successes stems from a collaboration with her team, from coach Craig Tyzzer to her parents.

In Paris last year, Barty unveiled her tour de force, one that turned the tennis world upside down. Though she had never contested a final on red clay—and had just two wins to her name at Roland Garros—Barty precisely applied every hue and brush from her palette over the fortnight to claim her first Grand Slam singles title.

“I have an extraordinary group of people around me,” Barty said after defeating Marketa Vondrousova in the final. “I love working with them every single day, day in, day out. They’re with me at the hardest times of my life, and they’re with me in some of the most amazing times. I think, for us, it’s a celebration of the journey we have been on for the last three years.”

Two weeks later, Barty ascended to world No. 1 after backing up her French Open triumph with a title on grass in Birmingham. She would run her win streak up to 15, until Alison Riske rose to the occasion in the fourth round of Wimbledon. Barty’s North American summer hard-court swing also ended with a fourth-round exit at the US Open, but she righted the ship in China by reaching the semifinals in Wuhan and contesting the Beijing final.

“I’m extremely proud that myself, my team, we turn up for every single tournament, regardless of when it is during the year, what the conditions are like,” Barty said before departing Beijing. “We come here with the expectation that I prepare as best I can, I play as well as I can on any given day, and then we see what happens.”

That purposeful mentality was channeled into another grand victory, one that yielded $4.42 million. After becoming the first Australian to clinch the WTA’s year-end No. 1 ranking, Barty went on to capture the season-ending championships in Shenzhen, along with its record payday. Taking lessons from previous experiences, the 23-year-old brushed aside Elina Svitolina for the first time in six tries to lift her fourth trophy of 2019. When press inquired how Barty would spend her earnings, she showed another considerate side.

“Today [it] was actually some stuff for the RSPCA (Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals) at home,” Barty revealed. “I was doing a little bit of online shopping because I know they’re in need of normal stuff for the cats and dogs, and kind of everything at the RSPCA shelter. A little bit to give back to them when I’m back home in Australia.”As she heads into a new decade of possibilities, Barty will hope to paint over one dark shade from 2019. Immediately following the WTA Finals, Barty traveled to Perth, in Western Australia, but came up short in leading her country to its first Fed Cup title in 45 years. She lost her second singles rubber to Kristina Mladenovic in a decisive tiebreaker, then went down in doubles with Samantha Stosur. The missed

opportunity shattered Barty, who couldn’t contain her tears as the visiting French team raised the trophy.

“Obviously it’s a tough one, something that all of us have been looking forward to for six months,” Barty said. “Now it’s about resting, recovering and reflecting on the year that’s been.”

Barty will face her toughest expectations to date in 2020. In holding the No. 1 ranking, players will come swinging for the 5’5’’ champion at full strength, after a short but critical off-season. Her outcomes will be held to higher standards. The Australian Open has not celebrated a home champion since 1978, a drought Barty will be pressured to end. It’s been 40 years since an Australian woman even reached championship Saturday.

“Australians are hungry for sport. They love it. They’re addicted to it,” Barty said at Melbourne Park last year. “I think at this time of the year, it always floats around with tennis that they’re looking for an Australian player, in particular, to go deep and have a really good run.”

Since returning in 2017, Barty has mostly thrived during the Australian summer, going 17–7. She’s come close to tasting victory in Sydney, finishing runner-up there the past two years. While she’s been commissioned to deliver at the Happy Slam, the Ipswich native won’t lose sight of what’s behind her best work to date: continuing to explore new ways to blend her colors with steadfast support of her backbone, Team Barty.

“I try and set a good example and be a good role model by my actions,” Barty said after topping Maria Sharapova last year in Rod Laver Arena. “I know my team are extremely proud of me.”

“I love to play with freedom and fun and try and create as much variety as possible,” she added. “But there are no secrets in tennis. Every day I try and challenge myself to add another string to my bow, in a sense, and become the complete player. I think that’s my biggest goal.”

With all the techniques one could want, a renewed passion for her craft and an exceptional outlook on her profession—and life—Barty is more than a complete player. She’s an archetype, well on her way to becoming the artist of her time.