Ashleigh Barty has claimed the biggest victory – and the biggest purse – of her career by fighting back after a wobbly start to vanquish fifth-seeded Karolina Pliskova and become the first Australian to win the Miami Open.

Barty pumped her fists when the weary Pliskova sent a forehand long on match point to hand the 22-year-old her fourth WTA title and a $A1.8 million winner’s cheque.

The 7-6 (7-1) 6-3 victory over fifth-seeded Pliskova demonstrated the Queenslander’s blistering recent form is no fluke and confirmed her place in the top 10 rankings on Saturday.

She is the first Australian since Samantha Stosur in 2013 to achieve the top-10 distinction.

“It’s been a phenomenal two weeks,” a jubilant Barty said.

“I feel a turning point for me was at Wimbledon last year and I’ve been playing some great tennis since then.”

Barty “makes it physical” as she streaks to victory in Miami. Photo: AP/Lynne Sludky

The Australian No.1 was 3-1 down against 27-year-old Pliskova but responded with excellent shot-making to force a tiebreak and outclass the Czech world No.7 by winning six straight points to takethe first set.

Barty broke the big-serving Pliskova in a 12-minute game to open the second set and from there on the fatigued Czech, whose semi-final win over Simona Halep finished after 1am local time earlier in the day due to rain delays, put up little resistance.

The victory capped a memorable week for the 2011 junior Wimbledon champion Barty, who took a break from tennis in 2014 to play professional cricket for the Brisbane Heat.

With only a 12-hour break between matches, Pliskova couldn’t match Barty’s dynamism. Photo: AP/Lynne Sludsky

Barty said the key to the win over Pliskova was extending rallies on the warm day in Southern Florida.

“It was important for me to try to make it physical,” she said in an on-court interview.

“Kaja has the ability to really hit you off the court and take it away from you, so I knew I had to have my running shoes on today to try and make as many balls as possible.”

Anyone who thinks Ash Barty cannot someday win Wimbledon has a kangaroo loose in the top paddock

— Christopher Clarey 🇺🇸 🇫🇷 🇪🇸 (@christophclarey) March 30, 2019

Barty, the 2018 US Open women’s doubles champion, will be No.9 when the WTA rankings are published on Monday. She fired a career-high 15 aces, with Pliskova barely making an effort to return some of them.

“I tried to make the most of it,” she said of playing her exhausted opponent.

“You don’t get these opportunities every single day and it was important for me to continue and try to do the right things and enjoy the moment as well.”

-with AAP