Women s world No.1 Ash Barty has won her third-round Australian Open clash against Russian power hitter Ekaterina Alexandrova in straight sets 6-2, 6-4.
The blockbuster match would have drawn a massive crowd but fans have been locked out after a snap five-day lockdown was ordered in Victoria after a cluster of Covid cases breached hotel quarantine.
It was a shaky start for the Australian golden girl who went down a break in the opening game in front of an empty Margaret Court Arena at Melbourne Park on Saturday night.
But the local favourite, who came into the match under an injury cloud, fought back, breaking the world No.32 s serve four times in the opening set snatching seven consecutive games.
MELBOURNE (Reuters) - World number one Ash Barty overcame a stumbling start to reach the fourth round of the Australian Open with a 6-2 6-4 victory ov.
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Meanwhile, world number one Barty cast friendship aside with a straight-sets victory over compatriot Daria Gavrilova, but appeared to lose focus serving for the match before closing out for a 6-1, 7-6 (9/7) win against her Fed Cup teammate.
Barty’s left thigh was heavily strapped but she seemed to move with ease in the second-round encounter against 387th-ranked Gavrilova.
“This isn’t very subtle,” Barty said referring to the bandage. “I’m as fit as a fiddle.
“When you play another Aussie, rankings go out of the window, so it was always going to be a tricky match.”
Sixth seed Karolina Pliskova of the Czech Republic had few alarms in beating American Danielle Collins, a semi-finalist at Melbourne Park two years ago, 7-5, 6-2.