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Match Details
Fixture: [1] Ashleigh Barty vs [30] Camila Giorgi
Date: 21 January 2022
Tournament: Australian Open
Round: Third round (Round of 32)
Venue: Melbourne Park
Category: Grand Slam
Surface: Hard
Prize Money: $75,000,000
Live telecast: USA - Tennis Channel | UK - Eurosport | India - Sony Six, Sony Liv
Ashleigh Barty vs Camila Giorgi preview
World No. 1 Ashleigh Barty is the favorite to win this year's Australian Open. After dropping only three games so far, the 25-year-old will face 30th seed Camila Giorgi for a place in the fourth round of the tournament.
Barty had an outstanding 2021 season, in which she won the Wimbledon Championships apart from four other titles. The Australian finished last year at the No. 1 spot and won the WTA Player of the Year award as well.
She started 2022 at the Adelaide International and survived a scare in her second-round match against Coco Gauff. However, it was smooth sailing for Barty from then on as she beat Sofia Kenin, Iga Swiatek and Elena Rybakina to win the 14th singles title of her career.
Barty has been in deadly form at the Australian Open so far. She thrashed Ukrainian qualifier Lesia Tsurenko 6-0, 6-1 in her opener and followed it up with a 6-1, 6-1 hammering of Italian qualifier Lucia Bronzetti. Barty served eight aces against Bronzetti, winning 19 out of 22 points on her first serve.
Giorgi, meanwhile, had her moments in 2021, the most notable of which was winning the Canadian Open by beating Karolina Pliskova in the final. This was the Italian's first WTA 1000 trophy.
The 30th seed won her first match of the new season against Anastasia Potapova by a 6-4, 6-0 margin in the first round of the Australian Open on Monday.
In the second round, she faced Czech Republic's Tereza Martincova. Giorgi won the first set 6-2 and was 5-2 up in the second. After a brief fightback from Martincova, the 30-year-old finally closed out a 6-2, 7-6(2) win in one hour and 37 minutes.
By reaching the third round, the Italian equaled her best performance at the Australian Open, having reached this stage of the competition in 2015, 2019 and 2020.
Ashleigh Barty vs Camila Giorgi head to head
Friday's match will be the fourth meeting between Barty and Giorgi. The Australian currently leads the head-to-head 3-0, having won all their showdowns so far.
The two locked horns for the first time in the second round of the 2017 Internationaux de Strasbourg, where Barty trounced Giorgi 6-3, 6-0.
The second meeting followed a few weeks later in the Birmingham Classic. Barty won the match after Giorgi was forced to retire while trailing 2-5 in the first set.
The duo faced off for the third time in the second round of the 2018 Australian Open. Barty dropped the opening set but came back to win the match 5-7, 6-4, 6-1.
Ashleigh Barty vs Camila Giorgi prediction
Ashleigh Barty has had a breezy run at the Australian Open so far. Giorgi, meanwhile, had to toil a bit in her second-round fixture against Martincova.
Both players have enjoyed success on hardcourts in recent times, with Barty winning two WTA 1000 titles on the surface while Giorgi won the WTA Montreal.
The Italian will have to be at her absolute best if she is to put up a fight against the World No. 1 who is in scintillating form at present.
Giorgi will rely heavily on her aggressive hitting to trouble Barty. Given the latter's strong serve, it will be very hard for the Italian to break her. Moreover, the 30-year-old has to be careful with her own serve as she has already served 14 double faults so far.
Giorgi might trouble Barty more than Tsurenko and Bronzetti but given the Australian's current run of form, she will be too much to handle for the 30th seed.
Prediction: Barty to win in straight sets.
Also check out: Australian Open 2022 Schedule of Play
