Australia's Ashleigh Barty believes a decision to take a break from tennis and play professional cricket revived her career, giving her the drive to reach a Grand Slam quarter-final in Melbourne this week.

Barty will became the first local hope to play in the last eight at the Australian Open in a decade when she faces Czech rival Petra Kvitova today. She retired and in 2014 made the stunning announcement that she would instead play professional cricket in Brisbane, preferring a team sport over tennis' gladiatorial ethos.