Ashleigh Barty encapsulated the best of tennis. The sport's most flattering adjective. In a one-dimensional era, where power has purchase and flair is only loose change, Barty - with more variety in her game than colours in an artist's palette was its sterling centre-piece.
Her signature sliced backhand opened the court and shut out opponents, the forehand, a shot that hollered precision, rivalled only her serve that cut through the air with the decisive quality of a switchblade.
