Wimbledon 2021: Ashleigh Barty vs Katerina Siniakova preview, head-to-head & prediction

Match details

Fixture: (1) Ashleigh Barty vs Katerina Siniakova

Date: 3 July 2021

Tournament: The Championships, Wimbledon

Round: Third round (Round of 32)

Venue: London, Great Britain

Category: Grand Slam

Surface: Grass

Prize money: £17,066,000

Live telecast: USA - Tennis Channel & ESPN | UK - BBC TV & Radio | India - Star Sports / Disney+ Hotstar VIP

Ashleigh Barty vs Katerina Siniakova preview

Top seed Ashleigh Barty will continue her bid for a second Grand Slam title when she takes on World No. 64 Katerina Siniakova in the Wimbledon third round on Saturday.

After overcoming tour veteran Carla Suarez Navarro in three sets, Barty registered a 6-4, 6-3 victory over Russia's Anna Blinkova in the second round on Thursday. The World No. 1 has registered strong results all year, and she seems to be rounding into form at just the right time during the grasscourt season.

Upon returning to the tour after a year-long hiatus due to the pandemic, Barty won three tournaments (Melbourne, Miami and Stuttgart) out of the first six that she played. Her extraordinary run came to a halt in Rome because of an injury, following which she suffered another setback at Roland Garros.

The Aussie, therefore, came into SW19 with no official grasscourt matches under her belt. But the injuries seem to have had very little effect on her game this week, as she has looked supremely comfortable on the grass.

Barty has found success on the surface in the past, having won titles in Birminghan and Nottingham in 2019 and 2018 respectively. She would now be hoping to go big at the All England Club and clinch the ultimate prize - the Venus Rosewater dish.

Her third-round opponent, Katerina Siniakova, is herself riding a wave of momentum after winning the doubles title with Barbora Krejcikova at Roland Garros. Siniakova followed that up with a final at the Bad Homburg Open last week.

Siniakova's first match at Wimbledon was a straightforward win over lucky loser Wang Yafan, where she lost just one game. But the Czech had to dig deep for a 4-6, 6-2, 6-2 victory over CoCo Vandeweghe in the next round.

Siniakova's best results at Wimbledon are her third-round finishes in 2016 and 2018. She has run up an impressive tally of six top-10 wins over the course of her career though, and will be hoping to improve that record further when she takes on the top seed on Saturday.

Ashleigh Barty vs Katerina Siniakova head-to-head

This will be the first meeting between Ashleigh Barty and Katerina Siniakova, so their head-to-head currently stands at 0-0.

Ashleigh Barty vs Katerina Siniakova prediction

Both players have lost a set en route to the third round, and their games have been duly tested. However, Ashleigh Barty's huge ranking advantage and past Grand Slam success make her the clear favorite in this matchup.

Both the 25-year-olds have put up decent serving performances in their previous matches, although they have coughed up a hefty number of double faults as well. Barty, the current tour leader in aces this year, will hope to find her serve on Saturday as her game depends a lot on that shot.

The Aussie hit a whopping 33 winners against Blinkova, whereas Siniakova only managed 19 in the second round. The Czech, however, was able to avoid leaking too many unforced errors, in contrast to Barty - whose error count shot up to 33.

The numbers suggest that the third-round encounter on Saturday will largely rest on Barty's racket. If the World No. 1 can revive her destructive kick serve and contain her unforced errors, she can be expected to get the win.

Prediction: Ashleigh Barty to win in straight sets.