Ashleigh Barty opens 2022 with Adelaide title

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Two years after lifting the champion’s trophy at the Adelaide International, Australia’s Ashleigh Barty repeated the feat with a 6-3 6-2 victory over Elena Rybakina of Kazakhstan.

Ashleigh Barty Adelaide International
Ashleigh Barty of Australia with the champions trophy after the final of the 2022 Adelaide International WTA 500 tennis tournament

Contesting her 20th singles final, the 25-year-old Barty made a crucial hold of serve from 15-40 down to level at 3-3 in the first set. From then on, the top seed won seven straight games and triumphed in 64 minutes.

Ashleigh Barty Elena Rybakina Adelaide final
Ashleigh Barty of Australia & Elena Rybakina of Kazakhstan with their trophies after the final of the 2022 Adelaide International WTA 500 tennis tournament

The lowest-ranked opponent Barty faced this week in Adelaide was No.22 Coco Gauff in opening match. After falling 6-4 4-2 behind against Gauff, Barty won eight sets and 35 service games in a row to clinch her 14th WTA singles title.

Ashleigh Barty Adelaide
Ashleigh Barty of Australia in action during the final of the 2022 Adelaide International WTA 500 tennis tournament

In the quarterfinals, Barty gained revenge on world No.12 Sofia Kenin, her conqueror at 2020 Australian Open, when she struck a career-best 17 aces and won 31 of 32 first-serve points. In the semifinals, Barty ended defending champion and world No.9 Iga Swiatek’s eight-match winning run in Adelaide, thus winning 11 of her past 12 meetings with Top 10 players.

This week marks the 109th overall week at No.1 for Barty; she has held the No.1 ranking for 102 consecutive weeks, the fifth best streak in WTA history.

Ashleigh Barty Adelaide International
Ashleigh Barty of Australia poses with her champions trophy after the final of the 2022 Adelaide International WTA 500 tennis tournament

Barty’s apparel this week at the Adelaide International was Fila’s all-black Slice Serve collection: the Fila Slice Halter Tank and the Fila Slice 13.5″ Skirt. Her Fila shoes were the Axilus 2.0 Energized Black/Rose Gold model.

Before heading to the Australian Open, Barty will play the Sydney Tennis Classic.

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