Ashleigh Barty created history in the ALYA WTA Malaysian Open by becoming the first player to reach both the singles and doubles finals at TPC Kuala Lumpur.
In the singles semi-finals today, the World No 158 Australian caused another upset by seeing off 139thranked Han Xinyun 6-3, 7-5 to make her first tour final.
It was tight in the first set, before Ashleigh broke in the eighth game and held her serve in the next to seal it.
In the second set, Ashleigh broke the first and 11th game, and served an ace at match point to become the first qualifier since Taiwan’s Hsieh Su Wei in 2012 to reach the final.
“It was a quality match. I think I played my best tennis the entire week today. I am just really happy to come out in straight sets and hopefully, I can play better tomorrow,” said Ashleigh today.
“My service game and forehand worked well against Xinyun. The courts here also suit my game fairly. I am just happy to get a lot of matches this week and fight for the title.
“It feels great to reach my first career final…my body feels great and I am ready to go for another day.”
Ashleigh, who hopes to break into the top 100 this week, said she will give equal attention to the singles and doubles finals tomorrow.
“I will focus on both…will get back and recover before I prepare for tomorrow. I have the luxury of having a doubles partner in Casey Dellacqua who is happy to help me with anything.
“Obviously, I will warm up with Casey tomorrow morning and then prepare the same way for both finals,” she said.
Ashleigh said she never saw herself as a doubles player despite having better success with Casey.
“I have a good partner in Casey. I am happy that she’s on my side rather than against me. I feel now I am both a singles and a doubles player,” she added.
For Results
http://www.wtatennis.com/scores-and-stats
For Draws
http://www.wtatennis.com/draws-and-schedule
For Match Notes/Head-to-Heads/Player List
http://www.wtatennis.com/press-center
For Chinese Site/Spanish Site
www.wta.cn
www.es.wtatennis.com
Tournament Website
http://www.alyawtamalaysianopen.com/
