Barty Advances To Wimbledon's Second Week, Finds Krajicikova - UBITENNIS

Barty Advances To Wimbledon’s Second Week, Finds Krajicikova

Ashleight Barty wins in straight sets over Katerina Siniakova and squares off a match with French Open champion Krajcikova

By Vanni Gibertini
3 Min Read
Ashleigh Barty (AUS) playing against Carla Suarez Navarro (ESP) in the first round of the Ladies' Singles on Centre Court at The Championships 2021. Held at The All England Lawn Tennis Club, Wimbledon. Day 2 Tuesday 29/06/2021. Credit: AELTC/Jed Leicester

[1] A. Barty b. K. Siniakova 6-3 7-5

That ball thrown into the stands as her opponent’s shot sailed long on match point is probably what Ashleigh Barty wanted to do with the worries that were starting to mount at the end of that second set.

The Australian n. 1 in the world looked on her way to pocket a routine victory against Katarina Siniakova of the Czech Republic (WTA no. 76 in singles but no. 2 in doubles) when she took a commanding lead at 6-3, 3-0. But when she served for the match at 5-4, after digging herself out of a 15-40 with three consecutive aces, she squandered her first match point with a backhand error and then Siniakova attacked her second serve on the two subsequent points to equalize at 5-5.

Siniakova had never been ahead in the score the entire match, at least not after throwing away a breakpoint at 1-1 in the first set with a horrendous forehand unforced error on a sitter not more than one metre away from the net.

It was a straight-sets win for Barty, and a pass for the Round of 16, but the Barty seen at Wimbledon is just a pale copy of the confident and powerful player that has dominated the best part of the spring, with wins in Miami and Stuttgart and a final in Madrid. After that, her body started to creak under the weight of the over 40 matches played since March, and it claimed a heavy toll when she was forced to retire in the second round at Roland Garros due to a left thigh injury she caused herself during a training session just before the beginning of the tournament.

In the next round, Barty will face Siniakova’s doubles partner, Barbora Krejcikova, the surprise winner at last month’s French Open who just survived a marathon match against Latvian Anastasija Sevastova winning 7-5 in the third set. The two players have never met in an official match and for Krejcikova this is the first time at this level of the tournament at Wimbledon, while Barty reached the Round of 16 once in 2019.

“Yeah, [Barbora] has had an exceptional last couple months – said Barty after her win – I have played her plenty of times in the doubles court. Never on the singles court. It’s a new experience for both of us, some new challenges that for sure will force some of my best tennis. I’m looking forward to that challenge. I’m looking forward to trying to figure out her game, kind of piece together the puzzle that she presents”.

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