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2019 Hopman Cup, December 28 Australia vs Spain RAC Arena, Perth, Western Australia Ashleigh Barty vs Garbine Muguruza |
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Ashleigh Barty and Garbine Muguruza will get the Hopman Cup tie between Australia and Spain underway in what is expected to be an outstanding encounter. Join The Roar for live scores and coverage from 8:30pm (AEDT).
Barty has had an outstanding last 24 months since returning from cricket and all of that skill was on display during Australia’s first tie against France.
After finishing last year with the WTA Elite Trophy and at 15 in the world, Barty started the new season with a crushing victory in straight sets over Alize Cornet.
Given her partner Matthew Ebden pulled off a huge win as well, Australia will now look to beat Spain and set up a grand final qualifying tie against Germany on Friday night.
A key to that could be Barty winning here, given the talents of David Ferrer for the men’s match to follow. Ebden under pressure having to beat Ferrer may not end well.
While Barty had an outstanding 2018 and looked in good touch against Cornet, Muguruza is a grand slam champion and one of the best players in the world.
What makes you doubt exactly where she is at is a loss to Angelique Kerber in Spain’s first rubber, which puts them under pressure to beat Australia.
Muguruza seemed to struggle with her court movement and serve. While it’s not the be all and end all and she will be better for the run, she is going to need to put in plenty of improvement from one performance to the next to get over Barty.
Prediction
This is going to be an extremely high-quality match, however, Muguruza will be down on confidence a little bit after her difficult loss to Kerber. As much as she needs to win this match to keep Spain in the Hopman Cup, I’ll take Barty in an extremely entertaining and close encounter.
Barty in three sets.
Be sure to join The Roar for live coverage of the opening match in this Hopman Cup tie between Australia and Spain from 8:30pm (AEDT) and don’t forget to add a comment in the section below.
Start time: 8:30pm (AEDT)
Venue: RAC Arena, Perth, Western Australia
TV: Live, 9Gem
Online: Live, 9Now
Overall record: Played 2, Barty 1, Muguruza 1
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