Baseline Award: Biggest dual threat

Across the last two weeks of December, Baseline will dish out awards for the greatest acts of 2018.

Over the course of the past two years, Ashleigh Barty has made up for lost time—and then some—when she left tennis to play professional cricket.

And if 2017 was a breakout year, this season established her as a true star: in singles and doubles.

The young Australian was the only player on the ATP and WTA tours to finish 2018 in the top 15 in singles and top 10 in doubles behind seven finals between the two disciplines, which included winning the two biggest titles of her burgeoning career.

In singles, Barty kicked off her campaign with a run to the final in Sydney, then followed that up with a third-round showing at the Australian Open for the second year in a row. She picked up her second career singles title on grass in Nottingham and closed out the year with a victory at the WTA Elite Trophy in Zhuhai.

Despite her longtime partner Casey Dellacqua retiring this year, Barty didn’t miss a beat on the doubles court. She won her first Premier Mandatory title in Miami with CoCo Vandeweghe, and added two more at that level with Demi Schuurs in Rome and Canada.

Reuniting with Vandeweghe at the US Open, the Aussie and her American partner came away with the crown, the first major for each of them.

If Barty continues along the pace she’s established the past couple of years more majors—perhaps alone, possibly with a teammate—could be coming her way.

Follow Van on Twitter: @Van_Sias