Ash Barty awoke to a phone full of text messages in Kuala Lumpur on Monday after becoming the first Australian woman not named Sam Stosur to win a WTA singles title in six years, but one from a fellow fisherwoman with whom Barty has formed a close bond was particularly special. Evonne Goolagong Cawley was among the well-wishers and Barty was thrilled.

"I love Evonne, she's an amazing person," Barty said of the dual Wimbledon champion with whom she shares an Indigenous heritage. "She just said 'congrats' and obviously she knows what it's like, so it was just nice to wake up and see a message from her. It certainly brought a smile to my face."

Ashleigh Barty poses with the WTA Malaysian Open Champion Trophy after beating Nao Hibino of Japan. Credit:Getty Images

Barty had not counted the SMS tally by the time she chatted to Fairfax Media, but admitted "there was certainly a lot of love there - I'm a lucky girl". And, understandably, a slightly weary one, having come through qualifying to clinch her maiden singles title in a rain-interrupted final 6-3, 6-2 against Japan's Nao Hibino, before combining with close friend Casey Dellacqua to claim her third career doubles crown.

It was midnight by the time Dellacqua, Barty and coach Craig Tyzzer made it back to their hotel. "Everything was closed, so we just went down to the lobby, and had a little room service dinner, and had a chat for about an hour, but then we had to come up and get organised to fly to Indian Wells today," Barty said. "A short-lived celebration, but it doesn't matter for me. It's all right."