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| Match: Finished | 1 | 2 |
|---|---|---|
| A. Barty (AUS) (15) | 7 | 6 |
| M. Sakkari (GRE) | 5 | 1 |
| Completed Sets | ||
|---|---|---|
| Set won by A. Barty | 6 - 1 | A. Barty leads 2 to 0 |
| Set won by A. Barty | 7 - 5 | A. Barty leads 1 to 0 |
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Ashleigh Barty will look to keep her hopes and dreams of a maiden grand slam title alive when she squares off with Greek world No.43 Maria Sakkari in a third-round encounter. Join The Roar for live scores and coverage from 11am (AEDT).
Barty, who came into the first grand slam of the year ranked at No.15 in the world, could well make a deep run at Melbourne Park and have a better ranking by the time she exits her home nation and heads back to Europe for the rest of the season.
The Australian has made a phenomenal start to 2019 really. A solid effort at the Hopman Cup, including a victory over former grand slam champion Garbine Muguruza, preceded a Sydney International tournament where she made the final.
There, Barty came away with three consecutive upsets against Simona Halep, Elise Mertens and Kiki Bertens, before falling to Petra Kvitova in the final.
She is yet to drop a set at Melbourne Park either, in fact, dropping just nine games across four sets against Luksika Kumkhum Yafan Wang.
Sakkari, on the other hand, also played the Hopman Cup and while she picked up two wins against Katie Boulter and Belinda Bencic, she was blown out of the water by Serena Williams.
The trend continued with a loss to Magda Linnette in Hobart’s first round, before she came away with back-to-back wins in Melbourne to qualify for the third round, with the win in Round 1 over Jelena Ostapenko particularly impressive.
It might have taken three sets, but she dealt with the former French Open champion in spectacular fashion, before having an easier victory over Astra Sharma last time out.
Still, Barty is a massive step up from those players, and Sakkari will have to be at her best to compete with the Aussie, ensuring she attacks the net, serves well and tries to take time away from Barty’s all-court game style, which has been tough to shut down in the last 12 months during her phenomenal rankings rise.
The pair have played two previous matches, splitting the ledger at one apiece.
Prediction
Sakkari had a great win in the first round of this grand slam, but she often struggles in bettering the best players in the world. Right now, Barty looks like, and is playing like, one of those upper echelon players. It’d come as a major shock if the Australian didn’t get through to the final 16.
Barty in three sets.
Be sure to join The Roar for live coverage of the first match on Rod Laver Arena and 2019 Australian Open today from 11am (AEDT) and don’t forget to add a comment in the section below.
Start time: 11am (AEDT)
Venue: Rod Laver Arena, Melbourne Park
TV: Live, Channel 9
Online: Live, 9Now
Overall record: Playd 2, Barty 1, Sakkari 1
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