As 2020 approaches, Australia’s Ashleigh Barty will be hard-pressed to better last season, although if those achievements were to be usurped then she is embarking upon quite a campaign.

Barty, who turns 24 in April, has proven to be something of a trailblazer, which extends to becoming the first Australian to be named women’s ITF World Champion.

“I’m honoured to be named this year’s ITF World Champion,” said Barty. “2019 has been an incredible year, winning the French Open and making the Fed Cup Final were highlights. I’m so proud of my team and I for what we have achieved and can’t wait for the 2020 season to begin.”

In a year of personal firsts, Barty also assumed the status of the maiden Australian woman to reach No. 1 in the world rankings since Evonne Goolagong Cawley in 1976.

That accolade arrived in June following her triumph over Germany’s Julia Goerges in the final of the Birmingham Classic, which came a matter of weeks after a breakthrough moment at Roland Garros.

Barty, who finished the year with a 56-13 match record, thrashed Czech Republic’s Marketa Vondrousova in the final, becoming the first Australian to win a singles title on the clay of Paris since Margaret Court in 1973.

Such a triumph capped something a fairytale story for the Queenslander, who quit tennis to play professional cricket in 2014 claiming tennis was a “lonely sport”.

She represented Brisbane Heat in the women’s Big Bash but returned to tennis after a 17-month hiatus in early 2016, with success in the French capital epitomising her upward mobility.

Earlier in the campaign, Barty claimed what at the time was the biggest singles title of her career by overcoming another Czech opponent, this time Karolina Pliskova, at March’s Miami Open.

Within a month, Barty had made history by becoming the first player to contest and win the maximum number of matches en route to the Fed Cup by BNP Paribas Final in the competition’s current format.

Barty claimed cleaned sweeps during Australia’s victories against USA in Asheville and Belarus in Brisbane as her nation went in search of their first Fed Cup title since 1974.

She would arrive in Perth for November’s final against France in prime form and with further silverware in an ever-expanding trophy cabinet following victory at the WTA Finals in Shenzhen.

Continuing a theme which underpinned her campaign, Barty became the first Australian to win the season-ending extravaganza since her role model Goolagong Cawley in 1976.

The Ipswich-born right-hander had lost all five of her previous meetings with defending champion Elina Svitolina of Ukraine but turned the tables at the decisive moment to triumph 6-4 6-3.

The year-end world No. 1 spot had already been secured, but further glory and the opportunity to cap a remarkable season beckoned as focus turned to the Fed Cup Final.

Her sensational run in the competition did not continue, however, as Barty lost her second singles match to an inspired Kristina Mladenovic before her and Samantha Stosur suffered defeat in the decisive doubles.