not liking that surface because she had limited experience playing on it while growing up. Barty also performed well on hard courts, where she won her first WTA singles title and reached her first Premier 5 level final. She won both singles and doubles titles on all three major surfaces. Barty's short stature and diverse array of shots led her to be compared to former world No. 1 and five-time Grand Slam singles champion Martina Hingis by David Taylor, one of Hingis' former coaches. She had solid groundstrokes from the forehand and backhand sides. In particular, she used her powerful forehand to create sharp angles on cross-court shots. Her kick serve and backhand slice are also two of her better shots. Barty's two-handed backhand was comparatively weaker than her forehand; as such, she utilised her exceptional one-handed backhand slice to create opportunities to attack with her aggressive, powerful topspin forehand. Barty's doubles game translated well to singles, as she frequently came to the net, and excelled at volleying. She used her variety of shots to trouble her opponents. Despite her height, Barty was an excellent server, with her serve being recorded as high as 115 mph (185 km/h). She finished the 2018 season at fourth on the WTA Tour in aces with a total of 297, nearly five per match. She was also second in percentage of service points won that year among players with at least ten matches, behind only Serena Williams. Thanasi Kokkinakis, one of her compatriot contemporaries as well as one of her mixed doubles partners, has described her game as, "Ash plays different to most girls. She likes to come into the net, she uses her slice very well and she's crafty. Whereas a lot of girls like to hit the ball hard and flat, she plays a little bit differently, she plays with a bit more control... and she makes things awkward for her opponent." Personal life Barty took a break from professional tennis from September 2014 until February 2016, and played semi-professional cricket during the second half of that hiatus. Although she gave no reasons at the time, she later said, "I needed some time to refresh mentally more than anything. It became a bit of a slog for me and I wasn't enjoying my tennis as much as I would have liked to." Her family and coaches all supported her decision. Barty had