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Scores updated regularly. REFRESH NOW
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2018 Fed Cup, April 22 World Group Playoffs, Rubber 3 WIN Entertainment Centre, Wollongong, NSW Ashleigh Barty vs Lesley Kerkhove |
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Ash Barty put Australia up 2-1 in the Fed Cup battle with the Netherlands, defeating Lesley Kerkhove in straight sets.
Final score
Ashleigh Barty 6 6
Lesley Kerkhove 4 2
A spot in the 2019 Fed Cup World Group could well be decided during a critical third rubber, as Asheleigh Barty looks to give Australia the upper hand against Lesley Kerkhove in Wollongong. Join The Roar for live scores and coverage from 12pm (AEST).
Barty was in fine form yesterday as she levelled the tie for the hosts. Things started off poorly in Wollongong for the Aussie girls, with Samantha Stosur losing the first rubber in a shock upset.
While she will be replaced in the fourth match by Daria Gavrilova after this one, Barty still seems to be a critical link in the Aussie team if they are to book their place back in the top group for 2019.
Kerkhove was the better of the two visiting players yesterday, with the world No.210 likely needing to win this match to give the Dutch any semblance of a chance.
Her fight against Stosur, to come back after struggling early in the first set was superb. Kerkhove was at one point down 4-1 in the first set, but would fight back to take the match 7-5, 7-6, sending a shockwave through the Australian camp.
It shows she is in good form. No matter how poorly Stosur played or what her form line is, the simple fact that she shouldn’t have lost a match like that on home soil remains, and Kerkhove will be a threat for Barty.
Barty herself has had a pretty rough time of things on the WTA tour, with a second-round bomb out at Indian Wells, followed by fourth and third round exits at Miami on hard courts and Charleston on clay respectively. It’s far from a poor form line, but it maybe isn’t quite up to expectation for the world No.19, who is coming off a phenomenal 2017 and Australian summer.
She hammered Quirine Lemoine yesterday in straight sets, holding to a bagel in the first before eventually winning 6-0, 6-2.
The scoreboard doesn’t represent the whole picture though. Barty was tested by the Dutchwoman, with the match almost swinging a few times. Barty will be better for the run though and should be right up for this match with the chance to set up a slightly easier afternoon for the hosts in front of a vocal Wollongong crowd.
Prediction
Barty should have Kerkhove’s number at home here. Stranger things have probably happened, but I don’t recall many.
Barty in straight sets.
Be sure to join The Roar for live coverage of the third rubber from 12pm (AEST) and don’t forget to add a comment in the section below.