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2017 Fed Cup, World Group II 1st rubber Palace of Sports, Kharkiv Elina Svitolina vs Ashleigh Barty |
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World No.13 Elina Svitolina will be looking to power the Ukraine to a Fed Cup victory, but standing in her way on Day 1 of the tie against Australia is Ashleigh Barty, who is in for a busy weekend. Join The Roar for live scores and coverage of the second rubber from 11:30pm (AEDT).
Barty’s run from tennis to cricket and then back to tennis finds itself in the Ukraine this weekend as she gets to make her first Saturday appearance for the Australian Fed Cup team.
It comes after Australia’s No.1 singles player Samantha Stosur was left out of the team, Barty looking to follow up a brilliant run to the third round of the Australian Open where she fell to Mona Barthel.
Barty is scheduled to not only play two singles matches this weekend, but also the doubles on Sunday and in a tie likely to go to five rubbers, it creates a busy weekend.
While Barty didn’t make much of an impression in either Brisbane or Hobart to start the season, she did take a set off world No.1 Angelique Kerber, before picking up wins over Annicka Beck and Shelby Rogers in Melbourne at the Aussie Open.
Her opponent in the second match of the first day is the Ukraine’s Elina Svitolina, who is under pressure to win both of her matches this weekend. If she doesn’t Australia become heavy favourites.
Svitolina might only be 22 years of age, but she is rapidly rising through the WTA rankings, taking out the title in Taipei following the Australian Open, defeating some quality players and only dropping a single set on the way to the crown.
That came after a slightly disappointing Australian summer of Tennis where she bowed out in the third round of the Australian Open to Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova in a big upset. A good run at Brisbane though shows her inconsistency to start 2017, which comes with youth.
It’s not hard to see why the Ukraine put this tie on a hard court, with both their singles players – Lesia Tsurenko and Svitolina holding impressive records, the world No.13 winning at 67 per cent on the surface through her career.
The pair have never played before this meeting.
Prediction
Svitolina is a class above Barty, but her form has been scratchy in big matches, as witnessed in Melbourne. She should win, but don’t be surprised if this one goes the distance despite the difference in rankings.
Svitolina in three sets.
Be sure to follow The Roar for live coverage of the second rubber in the Ukraine vs Australia Fed Cup tie and don’t forget to add a comment in the section below.
Follow Scott on Twitter @sk_pryde