Ashleigh Barty cannot seem to stop winning in 2021, as the World No.1 extended her winning streak to 16 matches following her victory over Paula Badosa in the semifinals of the Madrid Open.
The top seed dispatched of her Spanish opponent in clinical fashion, hitting 30 winners to breeze through with a 6-4 6-3 victory. However, despite accruing a 16-match winning streak on red clay, the Aussie already has her sights set on the grass court season.
"I've learnt a lot more about clay, without a doubt," said Barty. "I promise you, I'm still counting down to the grass court season. It's one of my favorite times of the year. I think the memories and the learnings now that we're getting from the red clay has been really cool, to be able to challenge myself in different ways."
The recent Stuttgart champion's last loss came at the hands of Badosa in the Charleston quarterfinals a few weeks ago, but she changed her play-style and was able to counter her Spanish opponent during their clash on Thursday.
"You have to learn from every game, every match you play against an opponent," said Barty. "I definitely learnt a lot from the match we played in Charleston. There was a small adjustment. I think just learning from some of her patterns, tendencies that came through and showed through in that match in Charleston.
"I think I was just able to control the court a little bit better. I was able to look after my service games a little bit better, build pressure on return games. That's a massive part of it: not always winning points, but building pressure. Scoreboard pressure can be a big thing. That was a focus for me today."
Sealing her place in her first Madrid final, Barty will face Aryna Sabalenka for the title. The fifth-seeded Belarusian defeated Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova in the other semifinal, and will be looking to avenge her loss to the World No.1 when the duo clashed for the title in Stuttgart two weeks ago.
Growing up in a household where soccer was king, my earliest memories are filled with chants from packed stadiums and the rhythm of a ball being passed across neighborhood streets. But somewhere along the way, the quiet elegance and raw emotion of tennis pulled me in. What began as a curiosity became a lifelong passion; not just for the sport itself, but for the stories it tells: of grit, of heartbreak, of improbable comebacks and human resilience.
As a tennis writer, I bring the observational lens of someone who didn’t grow up in the sport, but fell in love with it as an outsider; a perspective that lets me see both its technical beauty and its emotional depth. Over the years working with TennisUpToDate, I’ve had the privilege of reaching more than 3.5 million readers worldwide, with one of my features ranking among the site’s top three articles.
With a background in storytelling and a creative mind always searching for meaning beyond the scoreboard, I aim to craft narratives that go deeper than results and rankings. Whether it’s a rising star breaking through or a veteran fighting off Father Time, I try to capture the heartbeat behind the headlines.
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