Ashleigh Barty has warned her rivals to bring their A-game if they wish to stop her from breaking the country’s 42-year Australian Open title drought.

Barty delivered her most impressive performance of the summer to roar into the fourth round on Friday with a steely 6-3 6-2 win over big-hitting youngster Elena Rybakina.

The world No.1 then declared she was only just warming up for the business week at Melbourne Park.

“I know if a player is going to beat me, they’re going to have to play a very high-quality match for a long period of time,” Barty said after extending her 2020 winning streak to seven matches.

“It’s not just the first three or four games or first set, it’s across a three-set match.

“That’s the challenge I try to present to my opponents as often as possible.”

Rybakina had won 11 of her first 12 matches this season, lifting the trophy in Hobart after reaching the final in Shenzhen, to present herself as a huge threat to Barty’s title ambitions..

But the top seed rose to the challenge after dropping her opening service game to love to charge into the last 16 in one hour and 18 minutes.

“I felt I needed to be switched on. A lot of the games were long and tough and I’m happy to get out of them,” Barty said.

“The best match I have played this summer so far. I felt really comfortable moving around the court. I felt like I found the middle of the racquet a lot sooner than my other matches.”

Barty next plays either American Alison Riske, the 18th seed who knocked the French Open champion out of Wimbledon at the same stage last year, or her German doubles partner Julia Goerges on Sunday for a quarter-final berth.

The Queenslander said she’d love to play Goerges, her great friend whom she beat in the Birmingham final last year to secure the world No.1 ranking for the first time.

“There’s probably only a handful of people who I would have liked to have shared that moment with. Probably Casey (Dellacqua) is up there with Julia as well,” Barty said.

“Jules said some really nice things and kind of made me tear up a little bit. She’s a quality person, a quality human being.

“It doesn’t matter what happens on the tennis court, for her, she’s the same person. That’s what I love about her.

“She’s a great tennis player. She’s a lovely person. I enjoy spending time with her. I enjoy seeing her every day.

“Regardless of how we go in doubles, that’s the relationships I want to build off the court before we start on the court.”