KUALA LUMPUR, MALAYSIA — Ashleigh Barty has etched her name into history of the ALYA WTA Malaysian Open by becoming the first player to clinch both the singles and doubles titles in the tournament.
Barely an hour after lifting her first-ever singles triumph on Tour, the 20-year-old Australian returned to court without any signs of fatigue, teaming up with fellow compatriot Casey Dellacqua to complete a glorious double.
The Aussies, a three-time Grand Slam finalists, rolled back the years to beat fourth seeds Nicole Melichar and Makoto Ninomiya 7-6 (7-5), 6-3 at the TPC Kuala Lumpur on Sunday to lift their third title together as a team. The two other titles they won together was at the Aegon Classic in 2013 and the Internationaux de Strasbourg in 2014.
This was Casey’s fourth career doubles title and Ashleigh’s third. The duo earned 280 ranking points each and shared the US$12,300 prize money.
“I feel great…very tired, but great. It’s been the longest week for me and I don’t think I could physically play any more matches,” said Ashleigh, who’s set to break the world top-100 next week. “I’m just very happy to come away with two titles today.”
The opening set went down the wire with both pairs breaking each other twice to force the match into tie break. A lapse of concentration saw the Australian duo found themselves 5-1 down but they fought back well to claim the next six points to close out the first set.
Victory was never in doubt for Ashleigh-Casey the moment they broke Nicole-Makoto in the seventh game of the second set. The Aussie duo, who enjoyed their finest year in 2013 where they reached the finals of the Australian Open, Wimbledon and US Open, went on to break their opponents once more to seal the deal. Casey credited her good friend Ashleigh for her superb display.
“It’s pretty nice to play with someone who has just won the singles. I’m just so glad to be back (to winning ways)…I wouldn’t be enjoying as much if I wasn’t playing with Ash,” she said. “I’m very happy to witness her winning a first title and I know there will be many more to come. And to win the doubles with her is just an extra bonus.”
The pair have been making a strong comeback together since early this year and both have vowed to play together as frequent as possible. Their other notable result this year was reaching the quarter-finals of the Australian Open in January.
PHOTO: Vincent Phoon
