Insider Wrap: Barty dominates in Week 1; Halep and Anisimova surge

The Insider Wrap is a recap of everything you need to know from the week that was. This week, WTA Insider looks back on the first week of the 2022 season, where World No.1 Ashleigh Barty dominated the Adelaide International, while Simona Halep and Amanda Anisimova

View Profile showed resurgent form to win in Melbourne. 

Performance of the Week: Ashleigh Barty

Playing her first tournament since the US Open, Ashleigh Barty won her second Adelaide International title with a display of both dominance and resilience. Looking rusty and scattered from a set and a break down in her first match against Coco Gauff

View Profile , Barty leveled up and proceeded to win 35 consecutive service games en route to the title. 

Champions Corner: Barty serves up notice in Adelaide win

She shook off the rust from nearly three months away from the tour, but Barty's performance in Adelaide - which included wins over Gauff, Sofia Kenin

View Profile , Iga Swiatek

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Surprise of the Week: Amanda Anisimova

The 20-year-old American won her first title since 2019 in Melbourne, rallying from 3-0 down in the final set to defeat Aliaksandra Sasnovich

View Profile 7-5, 1-6, 6-4 in the final. 

Ranked No.78 at the start of the tournament, Anisimova tallied wins against Alison Van Uytvanck, Sorana Cirstea

View Profile , Irina Camelia Begu and Daria Ksaatkina over the week. The 2019 French Open semifinalist rediscovered her form, rendering her opponents as bystanders as she blasted the ball big and early.

Anisimova benefitted from the tutelage of Darren Cahill during Melbourne. It's a partnership the American hopes will evolve into a long-term union. But for the time being, Anisimova says her team and her work through the preseason has her in a positive headspace to start the year. She'll be a dangerous unseeded draw when the Australian Open begins.

Honor Roll

Simona Halep: The former World No.1 wants to put her frustrating 2021 season behind her, and her title run in Melbourne seemed to do just that. A finalist at Melbourne Park in 2018, Halep tapped into her fighting spirit in her two-and-a-half hour win over Viktorija Golubic

View Profile in the quarterfinals, winning 6-2. 5-7, 6-4.

Read: How Simona Halep stays motivated; sets aside retirement talk

Given her physical issues in 2021, Halep's resilience en route to the Melbourne 1 title was notable. She slipped out of the Top 10 last year for the first time since 2014 and made her goal to work her way back in. Her Melbourne title not only boosted her back up to No.15, but it earned her a Top 16 seed for the Australian Open.

Elena Rybakina

View Profile : The big-hitting 22-year-old continued her trend of starting a season strong, making the final in Adelaide. She couldn't find a way past a top-notch Barty in the final, but the World No.13 looked fit and confident throughout the week. There's no reason to believe she won't be a threat at the Open. 

Iga Swiatek

View Profile : It was going to take something special to beat Iga Swiatek in Adelaide. Barty brought the goods to hand the defending champion her first loss in Adelaide, but Swiatek acquitted herself well throughout the week. She played relaxed, confident and dominant tennis to score wins against Daria Saville

View Profile , Leylah Fernandez

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Aliaksandra Sasnovich

View Profile : There's just something about Sasnovich and Australia. Ranked No.107, the Belarusian successfully qualified in Melbourne 2 and made her first final since 2018 Brisbane. The run boosted her ranking to No.77.

Naomi Osaka

View Profile : There was a lot to like about how Osaka played en route to the semifinals of Melbourne 1. She kept her cool after being forced to a third set against Alizé Cornet in her opening match and the confidence grew from there with wins versus Maryna Zanevska and Andrea Petkovic. She withdrew from the tournament with an abdominal injury ahead of the semifinals, but the former No.1 will have a week to recover before she defends her Australian Open title. 

Read: Osaka 'optimistic' as she returns to competition earlier than expected

Pic of the Week

Notable Stats

35: Consecutive service games won by Ashleigh Barty in Adelaide. 

1: Losses to a Top 20 player for Barty since the start of 2021. With her run in Adelaide, Barty is now 16-1 against the Top 20 since the start of 2021.

15: Consecutive sets won by Iga Swiatek

View Profile in Adelaide. Victoria Azarenka

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30: Rankings spots jumped by No.77 Aliaksandra Sasnovich

View Profile with her run to the Melbourne 2 final, the biggest rankings move in the Top 100. Adelaide semifinalist Misaki Doi was right behind her, moving up 29 spots to No.76.

Quote of the Week

"It's like being in a swordfight, somebody is so fast that the only thing you can do is defend. You don't even have the time to think about attacking. That's how it feels with Naomi." - Andrea Petkovic

Recommended reading

• Fan-favorite Andrea Petkovic savoring every moment as she nears retirement
• Leylah Fernandez setting lofty goals as she readies for a big 2022 season
• Sofia Kenin is back and ready to fight her way back to the top
• Five things to know about rising Chinese teen Zheng Qinwen
• WTA Roundtable: The rivalries we want to see in 2022
• Paula Badosa settling into a 'new normal' to start the season