(FILA Luxembourg S.à r.l.) - FILA sponsored tennis player and World No. 1 Ash Barty ended her dominant 2019 season in emphatic fashion at the WTA Finals in Shenzhen by defeating reigning champion Elina Svitolina 6-4, 6-3. In addition, Timea Babos locked down her second consecutive WTA Finals doubles crown alongside partner Kristina Mladenovic. The duo defeated Su-Wei Hsieh / Barbora Strycova 6-1, 6-3 in the championship match.
In her first appearance at the prestigious year-end Finals, Barty went 4-1 over the week with wins over Belinda Bencic, Petra Kvitova, and Karolina Pliskova before taking down Svitolina in the finals. Her only loss came against fellow FILA-sponsored player Kiki Bertens, who entered the draw as an alternate following the withdrawal of Naomi Osaka. With the win, Barty will take home the largest-ever winnings in men’s or women’s professional tennis at $4.42 million. To cap off the week, Barty also solidified the WTA Year-End World No. 1 Singles Ranking.
The 23-year-old Australian has had a season to remember in 2019, which saw her reach her first-ever Grand Slam Quarterfinal in front of a home crowd in Melbourne in January; break into the Top 10 for the first time in March; win her maiden Premier Mandatory title at Miami; capture her first Grand Slam trophy at Roland Garros; and rise to the World No. 1 ranking in June. The Finals victory is Barty’s fourth overall on the year and the seventh singles title of her career, to go along with 10 victories on the doubles circuit.
"It feels like it's been a year that just hasn't stopped.” Barty told the WTA about her feelings following the victory. “It's been a year of incredible ups and downs - I think more ups than downs. To cap it off with a very, very special night tonight in Shenzhen is really cool."
No. 3 seeds Babos and Mladenovic became the first team to successfully defend a title at the Finals in 11 years with their straight-sets victory in Shenzhen. The pair went undefeated throughout the week. The win is Babos’ third WTA Finals victory overall, and her second alongside Mladenovic. She also captured the trophy in 2017 partnering Andrea Sestini Hlavackova.