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Australia’s Ashleigh Barty starts her quest to win her home major tonight at Rod Laver Arena in Melbourne when she takes on Lesia Tsurenko. Join The Roar for live scores and coverage of the action from 7pm (AEDT).
After a long break and an early-season tournament win in Adelaide, World No.1 Barty will go into her first round match with Ukrainian Tsurenko full of confidence.
Barty was impressive during the first WTA event of the year in the city of churches, notching consecutive wins against Coco Gauff, Sofia Kenin, Iga Swiatek and Elena Rybakina. If anything, Barty’s game may have gone up a notch, with her serve looking even stronger than last season.
Tsurenko is a veteran of the WTA tour and is currently ranked 120. She has come through qualifying in Melbourne so is already match hardened.
Prior to that, she bowed out of the Melbourne Summer Set 2 in the second round of qualifying.
Interestingly enough, Barty only leads the head to head 2-1, although the matches have been played over eight years. Their last meeting was in Melbourne in the first round in 2020, where Barty prevailed after losing the first set.
Prediction:
Barty continues to improve her game and is a much better player than she was even two years ago.
First rounds are always potential banana skins for high seeds but I can’t see any upset eventuating here.
Ash Barty in straight sets.
Venue: Rod Laver Arena, Melbourne
Start Time: 7.00pm (AEDT)
TV/Stream: Channel 9, 9Now, Stan Sport
Betting: Barty: $1.01; Tsurenko: $15.75 (odds via PlayUp)
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