Australian Ashleigh Barty has won the WTA Elite Trophy in Zhuhai and won her biggest title yet.
After 1:21 hours Barty, the ball virtuoso, transformed her first match ball to 6:3, 6:4 in the final against “substitute woman” Qiang Wang (China) in her very own way: First serve on Wang’s backhand, then a forehand crossed in preparation for the net attack – finished with a high backhand volley. Game, Set and Match…BARTY!!!
The 22-year-old thus celebrated her third individual title on the WTA Tour after her successes in Nottingham 2018 (Rasen) and Kuala Lumpur 2017 (Hard). Barty did not return to the Citcuit until 2016 after a two-year break and a side trip to cricket. “The tennis break did me good. I’ve refueled my motivation again,” said the 1.66 metre small right-handed woman from Ipswich.
Barty, who had defeated defending champion Julia Görges (Bad Oldesloe) in three sets in the semi-finals, had a special reward waiting for her after the final. The world-ranking-19th was presented with a stuffed animal by tournament ambassador Steffi Graf. Görges had also watched the final with her coach Michael Geserer and Physio Florian Zitzelsberger in the stands.
In the duel with Wang, who had only moved up to the preliminary round as a replacement for the injured Madison Keys (USA), Barty quickly took the lead 4-0 after a double break. She couldn’t let the advantage be taken away and after 38 minutes she won the first run with an overhead ball. This once again documented the playing style of the Australian, who is as flexible as she is offensive.
Then Wang found better into the game and kept up until 3:3. In the ominous seventh game, however, number 22 in the WTA ranking had to give up her serve. It was the preliminary decision.
Since 2015, the Elite Trophy, endowed with 2.35 million dollars, has featured the eleven best players of the season who failed to qualify for the WTA final in Singapore. In addition, a wildcard will be issued, this year to the Chinese Zhang Shuai.