‘Tonight was really clean’ – Ashleigh Barty delighted as she jukes past Giorgi into second week of Australian Open
Ashleigh Barty faced a dangerous opponent in Canadian Open champion Camila Giorgi but was able to subdue the Italian to ruthlessly roll on at the Australian Open.
The home favourite has been pristine at the Australian Open so far. Yet to lose serve across six sets, she is the only woman left in the draw with such a record.
Such consistency brings results, and Barty kept up her dominance by ousting Giorgi with ease 6-2, 6-3 in barely an hour on court.
“I thought tonight was really clean,” the world number one told two-time Australian Open champion Jim Courier in her post-match interview.
“I looked after my service games really well, did well to get out of a really tricky one being 0-40 down.
“I was just able to keep momentum going.
“Overall a pretty good performance I think.”
Giorgi is known for being one of, if not the the, biggest hitters on the WTA tour, something Barty had to contend with in the match.
“I felt like I was out of my weight class, that’s for sure,” the Aussie admitted.
“The way that she hits the ball and can control the centre of the court is incredible.
“It was my job tonight to try to get her off of that baseline. Whether it was short or deep or out of her strike zone, I tried to do that as often as I could.”
Barty will face American youngster Amanda Anisimova next after she upset defending champion Naomi Osaka to advance to the third round.
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