Topping the ranks of women’s tennis for 2019 is Ashleigh Barty. Now, this tennis star cut another record when she smashed the $10 million prize money ceiling for the season. Barty earned herself a spot only shared by one other for having the most lucrative WTA Finals ever, as her on-court earnings slipped to an impressive $10.93 million.
The recent windfall in the Australian’s income just more than doubled her career earnings in only one season. This could increase even more if Barty manages to defeat Petra Kvitova and thus qualify for the semi-finals. If Barty makes it to the final four in the tournament, she will be sure of at least $1.45 million, and if she moves on to the finals and takes victory, the total value of her prize money stands at $5.98 million. Considering the odd scenario that she might lose during the semi-finals, the 23-year-old player will still depart back on her journey home from China with $890 000 in hand.
Holding Your Future in Your Hands
The results of the finals are very much in Barty’s own hands. That is also the way that she prefers it to be. Currently, the contest within the pool is still keen to compete for the finals, but the action plan for Barty to proceed to the desired position is rather evident. The Australian star needs to take Kvitova out of the run and then she’ll be in the top view of the Red Group.
This will secure that she advances to the semi-finals. Once again even if she loses, she might still be able to slip into the finals if she manages to snatch a set from Kvitova and Kiki Bertens manages to gain victory over Belinda Bencic in a total of three sets. This would be a much more complex scenario, yet still possible. When counting back the number of games won and lost by each of the competing players, this might gain her access to where she wants to be.
Barty vs Kvitova
Barty stated that every single time the two of them met on the court, it had been a challenging experience. She also noted that each time is different. Now playing in China, the condition would once again be changed. What she needs to do is to be able to find Kvitova’s strengths and eliminate their effect while working on her weakness and still stay true to her pattern of play. Barty also expressed that the two tennis forces do have tremendous respect for each other. She stated that Kvitova does have a way to bring out the best performance she has to deliver on the court.
Does Barty manages to proceed, she is bound to meet up with either Elina Svitolina, the titleholder, or the champion of Wimbledon Simona Halep or Karolína Plíšková, to secure the desired spot in the finals.