"It's nice to experience something new" - Barty ahead of Qatar Open debut

Ashleigh Barty will play her first match since 2020 Australian Open in the Qatar Open debut and she shared her thoughts ahead of the match.

Barty lost in the semifinal at the 2020 Australian Open to Sofia Kenin. Since that moment, the Aussie took a bit of time off as she played already in Adelaide and Brisbane before the first Grand Slam of the year.

"I feel good," Barty told reporters at All Access Hour in Doha. "I needed to have an extra few days off just to let my body settle. We had a couple little niggles going on after the Australian Open. I would have loved to have been able to play last week [in Dubai]. I've never played either of these tournaments, so it's kind of a new thing for me."

"But it was nice to spend some time at home with my family. Parts of my family were with me at the Australian Open and my other sister wasn't, so it was nice to catch up with my niece and nephew at home who had been watching and enjoyed that month with me."

Barty will be playing in Doha for the first time and so she also spoke about the feeling of experiencing something new. The Aussie will meet Laura Siegemund in the first round.

"And then to get into a bit of training again and then to come here and experience something new for the first time, it's rare that we kind of get that. We play the same tournaments and the same kind of calendar throughout the year, so it's nice to experience something new, something fresh and really exciting."

"In a perfect world it probably would have been just under a week [off] and then having close to a full week leading up to Dubai, but I had to give myself that extra time just to make sure that it didn't derail the rest of my season. So sometimes you have to make those kind of decisions to make sure that in the long-term you are looking after yourself. So it was nice to have those 10 days. I feel really good now. It's beautiful conditions here and I really like it."

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