15 year old Ashleigh Barty of Queensland during her match against Olivia Rogowska of Victoria at Melbourne Park on December 11, 2011 in Melbourne, Australia(credit:
Malcolm Fairclough/Getty Images)
15 year old Ashleigh Barty won through the Australian Open wildcard playoffs to earn a place in next month's main draw.
Barty will be conceding well over a decade to many of her rivals when the Australian Open begins in a month's time but the fearless teenager proved she has the game to give many of them a headache after winning a series of matches against far more experienced compatriots in the wildcard playoffs.
Barty is ranked just 678 in the world and had to receive a wildcard into the playoffs themselves but she showcased her huge potential by winning junior Wimbledon in the summer and battled through, defeating defending champion Olivia Rogowska in the final.
"I'll probably go out there and play some horrendous tennis and be nervous, but I'll just go out and have some fun," Barty told The Age.
Barty's coach, Jason Stoltenberg, said: "When you talk about talent, there's her emotional talent and her ability to handle pressure—that's a talent in itself, And she's had a coach by the name of Jim Joyce when she was young, and he's taught her a lot of good things and developed her love for tennis, and she's got the support of a good family. So I think a lot of those things contribute to that talent, but we still need to manage her carefully."
In the men's playoffs, Marinko Matosevic booked his place in the main draw with a 6-4, 6-1, 6-2 win over James Duckworth.