Stepping Stones: Ashleigh Barty's path to the top
In a new series, wtatennis.com recalls the career milestones achieved by some of the WTA's leading players, starting with World No.1 Ashleigh Barty.
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Ashleigh Barty was a former junior World No.2, and at the age of 16 beat Irina Khromacheva to win the girls' singles title at Wimbledon in 2011.
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She made her Grand Slam main draw debut the following year, losing 6-2, 7-6(4) to Anna Tatishvili in the first round of the Australian Open as a wildcard.
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After taking a two-year hiatus, Barty returned to the sport in 2016 and won her maiden title at Kuala Lumpur 2017, beating Nao Hibino 6-3, 6-2 in the final and cracking the Top 100 for the first time as a result.
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2017 also saw Barty establish herself as an increasing threat to top players, scoring her first Top 20 win over Garbiñe Muguruza in Birmingham and her first Top 10 win over Venus Williams in Cincinnati.
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2017 also saw Barty reach her first Premier final in Birmingham, and her second title would also come on grass when she beat home favorite Johanna Konta in three sets to win Nottingham 2018.
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Barty made her debut in the second week of a major for the first time at the 2018 US Open, losing in the fourth round to Karolina Pliskova.
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A breakthrough came in Zhuhai at the end of 2018 as Barty captured her first title above International level, winning the WTA Elite Trophy with a 6-3, 6-4 victory over Wang Qiang.
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Barty continued to knock off milestones in 2019, reaching a maiden Grand Slam quarterfinal at the Australian Open and defeating Karolina Pliskova 7-6(1), 6-3 to win her first Premier title in Miami, reaching the Top 10 as a result.
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Barty had never reached a final on clay prior to Roland Garros 2018, but swept to her maiden Grand Slam title in Paris with wins over Sofia Kenin, Madison Keys and, in the final, Marketa Vondrousova.
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Barty followed up her major triumph by switching surfaces to keep her winning streak going with a title in Birmingham, where she defeated Julia Goerges in the final to ascend to World No.1 for the first time.
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Barty's magical 2019 culminated in victory at the Shenzhen WTA Finals, where she defeated Elina Svitolina in the final and sealed the Year-End No.1 ranking.
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As 2020 started, Barty continued to notch up milestones: a first title on home soil in Adelaide was followed by an Australian Open semifinal run - the first home player to make the last four in 36 years.
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