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Ashleigh Barty’s dreams of winning the Australian Open remain alive after she notched up yet another embarrassingly easy win yesterday, but the biggest hurdle of them all may be about to loom.
The Queenslander was again barely forced to sweat in the second round, dropping just two games as she dismissed Italian qualifier Lucia Bronzetti in less than an hour, to book a showdown with another Italian, 30th seed Camila Giorgi, in the third round.
Having dropped just one game in her first round match against Lesia Tsurenko, Barty equalled the record jointly held by Steffi Graf (1989) and Martina Hingis (2001) for the fewest games dropped after two rounds by a top-ranked female player.
It also marked her sixth consecutive win to start the year, and the fifth consecutive match in which she did not drop her serve. Impressively, the Ipswich native did not face a break point against Bronzetti as she continues to firm in favouritism for the Australian Open women’s title.
Beat Giorgi on Friday and she will very likely earn herself a shot at defending champion Naomi Osaka, who apart from a blip midway through the second set was barely troubled in her straight-sets thrashing of American Madison Brengle on Rod Laver Arena.
Like Barty, the Japanese star is also undefeated this year, starting the season with five consecutive victories, though withdrew from her semi-final match during the Melbourne Summer Set citing an abdominal strain.
Naomi Osaka (Photo by Fred Lee/Getty Images)
Having called time on her season after last year’s US Open, where her title defence was ended by Leylah Fernandez in the third round, it has become obvious that Osaka is starting to enjoy her tennis once again, having been plagued by mental health issues in 2021.
The 24-year-old did not face a break point in the first set, which she won 6-0 in just 20 minutes, before she was challenged in the second set, being broken in the seventh game before hitting back to win the final three games of the match to advance to the third round.
Her path to a Sunday showdown against Barty was made easier by the departure of 22nd seed and Olympic Gold Medallist Belinda Bencic, who suffered a shock straight-sets loss to American youngster Amanda Anisimova.
Bencic had loomed as a tricky opponent for Osaka, as the Canadian had beaten her three times from as many attempts, including a fourth round win at the 2019 US Open, which saw the Japanese player’s title defence ended before the quarter-finals.
But while Osaka will start as the hot favourite to beat Anisimova on Friday, she will not want to take her lightly, and for very good reason.
At the French Open three years ago, Anisimova played the match of her life to upend Simona Halep in the quarter-finals, and had Barty on the ropes in the semi-final when she led by a set and a break before losing in three sets to the eventual champion.
The 20-year-old, who has drawn comparisons to Maria Sharapova for her appearance, also recently won her first title since 2019 at the Melbourne Summer Set 2, in which she defeated Aliaksandra Sasnovich in three sets in the final.
A Barty-Osaka showdown on Sunday would mark their second clash at the Australian Open, after the Japanese star sprung an upset win in the third round in 2018, and possibly deliver local broadcaster Channel Nine a huge ratings windfall.
In other matches completed on Wednesday, the Spanish trio of Rafael Nadal, Carlos Alcaraz and Paula Badosa all notched up straight-sets victories to advance to the third round.
Badosa was the first to punch her ticket to the last 32, doing so at Melbourne Park for the first time after dismissing Italian qualifier Martina Trevisan in straight sets, while Alcaraz did likewise, thrashing Serb Dusan Lajovic to book a clash with Italian seventh seed Matteo Berrettini.
While we saw first-hand the future of Spanish tennis, the veteran, Rafael Nadal, kept alive his chances of a double-career grand slam with a straight-forward win over German qualifier Yannick Hanfmann, the first-round victor of Adelaide champion Thanasi Kokkinakis.
The King of Clay next faces Olympic Silver Medallist Karen Khachanov as he closes in on his bid to regain the title he last won in 2009 when he defeated Roger Federer in an epic five-set final that did not finish until after midnight.
Last year’s semi-finalist, Aslan Karatsev, came from a set down to beat Mackenzie McDonald in four sets, while Alexander Zverev enjoyed a straight-forward win over Australian John Millman on Rod Laver Arena as he firms in his pursuit of a maiden major title.
How far can the German go at the AO? (Photo by Julian Finney/Getty Images)
On the women’s side, past and present French Open champions Jelena Ostapenko and Barbora Krejcikova lined up a third-round clash against each other, while Victoria Azarenka won in straight sets to book a clash with 15th seed Elina Svitolina.
The second-highest seed remaining in Barty’s quarter of the draw, Maria Sakkari, beat Chinese qualifier Zheng Qinwen in straight sets, and will fancy her chances of reaching the quarter-finals at Melbourne Park for the first time.
The player she would’ve faced in the fourth round, ninth seed Ons Jabeur, was forced to withdraw from the tournament due to a back injury she sustained in Sydney last week.
Reigning WTA Finals champion Garbine Muguruza kicks off the day session on Rod Laver Arena, which also includes second seed Aryna Sabalenka and Australian 32nd seed Alex de Minaur.
Expect fireworks when showman Nick Kyrgios tackles Russian second seed and title favourite Daniil Medvedev in the first match of the evening session, which is followed by two-time major champion Simona Halep taking on Brazilian Beatriz Haddad Maia.
Also in action today are Greek fourth seed Stefanos Tsitsipas, reigning US Open women’s champion Emma Raducanu, former French Open champion Iga Swiatek and tour veterans Andy Murray and Samantha Stosur.
Rod Laver Arena
Day session – from 11:00am AEDT
Alize Cornet (FRA) vs [3] Garbine Muguruza (ESP)
Wang Xinyu (CHN) vs [2] Aryna Sabalenka (BLR)
Kamil Majchrzak (POL) vs [32] Alex de Minaur (AUS)
Night session – from 7:00pm AEDT
Nick Kyrgios (AUS) vs [2] Daniil Medvedev (RUS)
[14] Simona Halep (ROU) vs Beatriz Haddad Maia (BRA)
Margaret Court Arena
Day session – from 11:00am AEDT
[6] Anett Kontaveit (EST) vs Clara Tauson (DEN)
Hailey Baptiste (USA) vs Maddison Inglis (AUS)
Sebastian Baez (ARG) vs [4] Stefanos Tsitsipas (GRE)
Night session – from 7:00pm AEDT
Danka Kovinic (MNE) vs [17] Emma Raducanu (GBR)
Steve Johnson (USA) vs [11] Jannik Sinner (ITA)
John Cain Arena
Day session – from 11:00am AEDT
[7] Iga Swiatek (POL) vs Rebecca Peterson (SWE)
Not before 1:00pm AEDT
Frances Tiafoe (USA) vs [20] Taylor Fritz (USA)
Zhang Shuai (CHN) vs [12] Elena Rybakina (KAZ)
Not before 5:30pm AEDT
Andy Murray (GBR) vs Taro Daniel (JPN)
For the full Day 4 schedule, please check the Australian Open website.
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