Fed Cup and world No 1 title to drive Ash Barty to end of year

Ash Barty rounded out her grand slam season with defeat in the US Open doubles final, but she still has goals to hit in 2019.

Ash Barty, left and Victoria Azarenka with their runners-up trophy after the final of the US Open women’s doubles final. Picture: Getty Images

As Ash Barty assessed a grand slam year that ended with a defeat in the US Open doubles final, she made clear her determination to finish an already stellar season in style.

The 23-year-old Queenslander was quizzed as to which goal she placed a higher premium on; Would she prefer to lead Australia to a first Fed Cup success in 45 years in a final against France, or become the first Australian woman to finish the season ranked world No 1?

Why not have both, she reasoned, and both options are certainly within reach if she can recapture her very best form. But she also stressed that regardless of what unfolds in coming months, there is a bigger picture in play.

“Excuse my French, but shit, it is a pretty good option either way,” Barty said.

“We have got an opportunity to win a Fed Cup final. I have put myself in an opportunity to try to finish the year No 1, but if they both happen, or (if) neither happen, (this) is probably the best way to describe it, it is not going to change the way that I relax, the way that I stay with my family, the way my family thinks of me.

“They are all little things that you can look forward to, but they don’t really define you and it is certainly not what I want to be remembered by.”

The Roland Garros champion was unable to defend the US Open doubles crown she claimed last year in partnership with CoCo Vandeweghe, as she and Victoria Azarenka were beaten in the final 7-5 7-5 by Aryna Sabalenka and Elise Mertens.

In a decider featuring four top-flight singles performers, Barty and Azarenka were left to rue their inability to make the most of their break point opportunities.

That disappointment aside, Barty departs New York for a brief break in Queensland as the world’s top-ranked player once again.

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As well as winning the French Open, Barty made the second week of every grand slam tournament this year and has also claimed significant titles on hard court in Miami and grass in Birmingham to be a deserving No 1.

“I have done the work and I feel like a ranking is a true reflection of where you are at. I have always said that,” she said.

“It requires you to be consistent, to build up your ranking and to kind of get higher and higher, lower and lower, whatever you want to call it, but the challenge of playing the best in the world is always the greatest challenge.

“That is why we play this game, to test ourselves against the very best, and hopefully I have a few more opportunities in this next month or so, five or six weeks, of the normal season to test myself against the best and then gear up for a big couple of weeks to finish off.”

The Queenslander was practising with Azarenka as Bianca Andreescu swept aside Serena Williams in the US Open singles final.

Barty is yet to play the Canadian sensation, who is unbeaten in completed matches since February, but is looking forward to the challenge of pitting her stylish game against the versatility the 19-year-old possesses.

“I would love to play her and I would love to test myself against her to see why and how she presents so many challenges and why she is winning all these matches and as good as she is,” she said.

“I would love that challenge. I am sure we will cross paths eventually, hopefully more than once.”

Barty believes the fact the majors were shared around this season is indicative of the depth of talent on the tour, and the challengers to her position will continue to emerge, just as Andreescu has.

Players such as 18-year-old American Amanda Anisimova, who Barty defeated in a semi-final of the French Open, but missed the US Open due to the death of her father, while another American, 15-year-old CoCo Gauff, is viewed as a star in the making.

“I think it is exciting on the women’s side that there is change,” Barty said.

“Obviously, I feel like there have been a lot of players over the past five to ten years that have been consistent, have been dominant at times, but not dominant across the whole ten years, but I think it shows the depth. I think it really does.”