Top seed Ash Barty hopes to continue her successful Australian Open run as she takes to Rod Laver Arena in the second round against fellow Aussie Daria Gavrilova.
In under half an hour Barty breezed through to take the first set, dropping just one game to her Fed Cup teammate. The World No. 1 leads 5-4 in the second set.
Gavrilova has appeared frustrated so far in the second set, yelling at herself and gesturing towards her coach.
Commentator Sam Smith said there was a ‘strange’ atmosphere over centre court on Thursday afternoon for the battle of the Aussies.
‘There’s a really strange sensation over Rod Laver Arena at the moment,’ Smith said.
‘No one really knows who to pull for.’
Barty, 24, took a year off from tennis in 2020 amid the pandemic, and instead spent time with her dogs and playing golf.
Gavrilova is still in the early stages of her own comeback from a year-long layoff with a crippling foot injury. Pictured at Melbourne Park on Thursday
In under half an hour Barty has breezed through to take the first set, dropping just one game to her Fed Cup teammate
Barty on Wednesday said she was looking forward to getting on court against Gavrilova, predicting it would be a ‘ripper’.
‘It will be a challenge,’ Barty said. ‘I’ll enjoy it – I always enjoy testing myself against other Aussies.’
Gavrilova will be determined to eclipse Danka Kovinic, who won just 10 points in her second round 6-0 6-0 clash with Barty.
Barty, 24, took a year off from tennis in 2020 amid the pandemic, and instead spent time with her dogs and playing golf.
Her comeback has been one for the books, dropping just 10 points in her first round match against Danka Kovinic at Melbourne Park.
The former world junior No.1 held the mantle as Australian No.1 for 17 weeks before relinquishing it to Barty in on October 23, 2017.
Barty holds great respect for the 26-year-old, and is wary of Gavrilova, particularly given her Russian-born rival used to have the world No.1’s coach Craig Tyzzer in her own corner.
Daria Gavrilova needed a wildcard into the Open, with her ranking having slumped to 387th in the world from a career-high 20th
Top seed Ash Barty (pictured) will be out to end another Australian’s run when she takes on Daria Gavrilova in the second round of the Open on Thursday afternoon
‘Obviously Dasha and I, we’ve been Fed Cup teammates for a long time now. We know each other well,’ Barty said.
‘Tyz obviously coached Dasha for a couple of years we spend a lot of time together.’
Gavrilova is still in the early stages of her own comeback from a year-long layoff with a crippling foot injury.
She needed a wildcard into the Open, with her ranking having slumped to 387th in the world from a career-high 20th.
Barty and Gavrilova lead a charge of seven Australians in singles action on Thursday including Thanasi Kokkinakis, Samantha Stosur, Alex de Minaur, Chris O’Connell and Alexei Popyrin.
Stosur, who on Tuesday enjoyed her first singles win at Melbourne Park since 2015, takes on American Jessica Pegula.
Barty said she was looking forward to getting on court against her Fed Cup teammate, predicting it would be a ‘ripper’
Defending champion and fourth seed Sofia Kenin will meet Estonian veteran Kaia Kanepi, who won the only previous match, on Margaret Court Arena, following Swiss 11th seed Belinda Bencic and Svetlana Kuznetsova of Russia.
Sixth-seeded Czech Karolina Pliskova and Danielle Collins are first up on Rod Laver Arena, followed by Barty and Gavrilova.
American 16-year-old Coco Gauff takes on the fifth-seeded Elina Svitolina of Ukraine, a two-time Australian Open quarterfinalist
Rafael Nadal, meanwhile, continues his quest for a men’s record 21st major title with a second-round match against American Michael Mmoh in the night session.
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