Barty after reaching the Last 16 at the US Open: "I feel like every day I've been getting better and better"

Saturday, 31 August 2019 at 10:55

Ashleigh Barty won another match at the US Open when she defeated the 30th seeded Maria Sakkari 7-5 and 6-3 and will face Wang in the next round.

Of course, after a relatively easy win in two sets, Barty was happy with her performance. Barty managed to win 77% of points after the first serve, which she saw as one of the keys to success.

"I think overall today there were parts of the match I was really happy with," Barty said during her post-match press conference. "I feel like a few of the things that I've been lacking over the last month kind of came together a little bit today. It felt like I served a lot better. I controlled the ball off the first strike more often than not. In the bigger moments, I felt like there was some better stuff there."

Last year, the Australian managed to advance to the fourth round at the US Open for the first time. This year, the second-seeded will fight to advance to the quarterfinals. Going to the second week of the Grand Slam is definitely the goal of a player who is one of the biggest favorites to win and so it is for Barty.

"That's what we aim for, it's what we strive to do, is to try and do the best we can every tournament," said Barty. "Particularly at Slams, to make that a bit of a focus point, to try to be ready, to try and make sure that I'm giving myself the best chance to go deep in the Slams. Really happy to be into another second week."

"I feel like every day I've been getting better and better," Barty added. "I still feel great. There's a few big months left in the season. We're looking forward to it."

Opportunity to reach the first quarterfinal at the US Open

Barty also spoke of her rival among the last 16, Qiang Wang, with whom she managed to win in straight sets twice last year. If Barty could handle this match, in the next round, she could meet Serena Williams, who will play with Petra Martic.

"Obviously [Wang is a] very tough competitor, moves extremely well," Barty stated. "When the ball is in her strike zone, she can go both ways, cross and line off both wings. I think it's going to be an incredibly physical match, a match where I need to make sure that I serve well and bring variety in as much as I can."

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