Roar Guru
Local hope Ashleigh Barty will go up against Camila Giorgi for a place in the third round of the Australian Open tonight. Join The Roar for live scores and commentary from 7pm (AEDT).
After a hard-fought win in Round 1 over a very noisy Aryna Sabalenka, Barty has a similar challenge against Giorgi tonight. This has nothing to do with noise and everything to do with aggressive strokeplay. Barty finally wore down Sabalenka and will be hoping she can do the same with Giorgi, who won’t be afraid to go all out for winners.
Both players come in with good form. Ash Barty’s breakout year in 2017 ended in style with victories over Angelique Kerber and Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova in the WTA Elite event in China. She suffered a surprising first-round loss in Brisbane but then played herself into form in Sydney, only going down to Angelique Kerber in the final.
Similarly, Giorgi has started the season well. The 79th-ranked Italian first got herself through qualifying in Sydney before beating Sloane Stephens, Petra Kvitova and Agnieszka Radwanska on her way to the semi-finals, where she lost to Kerber. She continued that form with a straight sets win in the first round on Tuesday.
In terms of head-to-head clashes, other than the retirement in Birmingham, Barty won 6-3 6-0 in Strasbourg on clay.
The match will be a clash of styles, with Giorgi’s heavy hitting up against the courtcraft of Barty. Giorgi is known to get on little runs with her groundstrokes, so Barty will need to ensure her opponent is given little time to settle into a routine. Barty’s all-court game should suit in this respect.
Prediction
On form, this could go either way. However, I am prepared to jump off the fence here and am predicting a comfortable straight-sets win for Barty. After a tough first-round encounter, Barty appears to be close to her best which should see her progress.
Fatigue may also play a role in this match, with Giorgi playing seven singles matches in Sydney last week.
Barty to win in straight sets.