Barty a midnight special

The clock had almost struck midnight after her latest Sydney International win, but Ashleigh Barty insisted there was no better time to get more practice in.

Not satisfied with her straight-sets victory over countrywoman Ellen Perez at the Sydney International, Australia’s top-ranked player decided to hit more balls instead of heading to recovery.

The 21-year-old Ipswich product said it was the perfect time to rectify her shortcomings before meeting world No.21 Barbora Strycova, who lost to Barty in Birmingham last year in their quarter-final, today.

“After some matches we just go out and work on a few things. I just wanted to work on my rhythm and just hit my spots a little bit more in serve,” Barty (pictured) said.

“(We) probably only hit 35 or 40 serves after the match. But yeah, I just said to my coach, ‘Let me jump off. We’ll just grab a box of balls and go out for 10 minutes’.

“I think there’s no better opportunity. The courts are free. Obviously I had just come off the court. I was warm and ready. Instead of me worrying about it overnight, I can go home now and know that I’ve done my work.

“The boxes are ticked for today and then come back tomorrow.”

Barty double-faulted five times in the first set against wildcard Perez before eventually finding her groove in the second.

“I think for me the polish isn’t quite there still,” Barty said.

Sam Stosur and Daria Gavrilova, meanwhile, were scheduled to battle it out in an all-Aussie round-of-16 affair on Ken Rosewall Arena last night before John Millman took on No.2 seed Gilles Muller.