Ashleigh Barty’s junior coach urges her to reach for Grand Slam win after ticking off her top 10 goal

The junior coach of world tennis top 10 player Ashleigh Barty said he would love the Springfield raised sporting giant killer elevate winning a Grand Slam tournament as her next goal.

The junior coach of world tennis top 10 player Ashleigh Barty said he would love the Springfield raised sporting giant killer elevate winning a Grand Slam tournament as her next goal.

Jim Joyce from the West Brisbane Tennis Centre said Barty had an uncanny knack of achieving her goals and as a result he would love to see her raise the bar further now she had already achieved her 2019 ambition of breaking into the top 10.

“Ash had set a goal for herself each year since she came back to tennis full time,’’ Joyce said.

Ash Barty and mentor Jim Joyce.

“And she always meets the goal early each year. First it was to make the top 100. Then this year top 10.’’

He said he would like her to set winning a Grand Slam tournament as her next goal.

Joyce, who has known Barty since she walked into his tennis centre aged around five, said it was a “fantastic moment’’ to see her enter the top 10 after beating Petra Kvitova at the Miami Open last week.

Ashleigh Barty back hands against Petra Kvitova. (Photo by Julian Finney/Getty Images)

Barty, who will return to Brisbane next month to spearhead Australia’s Federation Cup campaign, kept her nerve to claim a 7-6 (7-5) 3-6 6-2 victory following a two-plus hour rain delay.

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It was her first win over the acclaimed Kvitova who ironically ended Barty’s run at January’s Australian Open.

“You always knew she had talent but she has put it all together with the mental side of the game and the physical side,’’ Joyce said. “She is fitter than ever before. But the big difference is her mental side.”