Ashleigh Barty follows Serena Williams on massive WTA ranking milestone

Ashleigh Barty has held the WTA throne since September 9, 2019, enjoying a breakthrough season that saw her winning the first Major crown at Roland Garros.

The Aussie played only four tournaments in 2020, winning the title in Adelaide and losing the Australian Open semi-final. In her last event before the pandemic, Barty reached the semi-final in Doha, losing to Petra Kvitova and returning home to Australia, where she spent the rest of the year.

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Barty eases past Badosa into the Madrid Open final

The Ipswich native didn't travel to the USA or Europe when the season restarted in August, keeping her points from the previous year and raising many concerns about her No. 1 status.

Making a fresh start, Ashleigh returned even stronger at the beginning of 2021, shining at home and proving her quality. Barty kicked off the season with the Yarra Valley Classic title in Melbourne, beating Garbine Muguruza in the final before advancing into the last eight at the Australian Open.

The home favorite fell to Karolina Muchova in three sets and suffered an early Adelaide loss before taking a well-deserved break. In Miami, Ashleigh toppled Victoria Azarenka, Aryna Sabalenka, Elina Svitolina and Bianca Andreescu to claim the title and cement her position at the top.

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Barty overcomes Kvitova for a place in the Madrid Open semifinal

Switching to the European clay, Barty conquered the WTA 500 event in Stuttgart following challenging victories over Karolina Pliskova, Elina Svitolina and Aryna Sabalenka, adding more points to her tally and traveling to Madrid as one of the favorites.

Continuing where she left in Stuttgart, Ashleigh beat five rivals at Caja Magica to set the title clash against Aryna Sabalenka like at the previous event. The Aussie has earned enough points to pass the magical 10,000-point mark as the first player since Serena Williams in October 2015!