In only her second tournament of the past 11 months Ash Barty swept aside a lacklustre Shelby Rogers 6-3, 6-4, to book a place in the quarter-finals of the Australian Open.
The nighttime showdown was a case of deja vu for both players who also locked horns in a lead-up tournament last month. On that occasion Barty was taken to a third set tiebreaker before she triumphed. However, this time around it was more straightforward for the home favourite who took advantage of blips in the Rogers game during both sets. Overall, she produced 21 winners to 16 unforced errors as she broke the American three times.
“I knew my serve was going to be massive. Not giving Shelby too many looks on my second serve,” Barty commented on the tactics she used afterwards. “She’s a player who can take the match away from you very quickly so I needed to have my running shoes on, serve well and try to be in control of as many points as I could.”
Seeking a place in the Australian Open quarter-finals for a third year in a row, the top seed looked to be the sharper of the two players early on in their match. Barty first drew blood four games into the match after a 18-shot rally ended with a winning forehand which saw her break for a 3-1 lead. Rogers had a chance to retrieve the break later on in the set but was unable to capitalise on her opportunities. Enabling the former French Open champion to seal a 6-3 lead with relative ease.
Continuing her momentum Barty struck again three games into the second frame with the help of some cheap gifts coming from across the court. An erratic Rogers forehand error handed the world No.1 another break as she closed in on the finish line. Cruising towards victory the only time Barty faltered was when she was serving for the win after a series of tentative shots resulted in her dropping serve for the first time whilst leading 6-2, 5-2. Despite the blip she held her nerve to close out the match after 71 minutes with the help of a Rogers backhand error.
“It’s really exciting to be through to another quarter-final. I think if you told me a few months ago during pre-season that this is the start to the year that we (my team) would have, we would absolutely take it with a massive smile on our face,” said Barty.
“I’ve grown up on these plexi-cushion courts and have played on them for many years now. I love being at home in Australia and being able to share it with my friends and family,” she added.
Awaiting Barty in the last eight is Czech underdog Karolína Muchová who had never won back-to-back matches in the tournament until this year. Although she did reach the quarter-finals of the 2019 Wimbledon championships. The world No.27 battled back from a 2-5 deficit in the opening set to defeat Elise Mertens 7-6(5), 7-5.
“I just finished this one (match) so I’m really not thinking about it,” Muchova replied when asked about playing Barty next. “I will try my best to recover. She’s an amazing player and I look forward to playing her.”
Barty is now on a nine-match winning streak.
