The top-seeded Ashleigh Barty qualified for the third round of the Australian Open, the first Grand Slam tournament of the year. The Australian delighted her fans at the Rod Laver Arena with a quick victory over the Italian qualifier Lucia Bronzetti by 2-0 (6:1, 6:1) in less than an hour of play.
In the next round, Ashleigh Barty will meet another Italian – Camila Giorgi, who eliminated the Czech Tereza Martincova with 2-0 (6:2, 7:6).
The 8th-seeded in the scheme Paula Badosa from Spain for the first time in his career reached the third round of the Australian Open after success with 2-0 (6:0, 6:3) over the Italian Martina Trevisan.
Paula Badosa is considered one of the favorites to take her first Grand Slam title after her excellent form and the trophy she won in WTA 500 Sydney Classics.
“I am proud of myself. A year ago I was quarantined here because of COVID-19 and dropped out in the first round, and now I have won the right to be placed and play on the central court. The feeling is special. It is never easy to play in the role of the favorite, there will be tough matches and I am a little tense, but I will try to deal with this tension”, commented the 24-year-old Badosa.
Two-time tournament champion Victoria Azarenka also continues in the third round after a 2-0 (6:1, 6:2) victory over Switzerland’s Jil Teichmann. The Belarusian reaches this phase for the first time since 2016 and there she will meet the Ukrainian Elina Svitolina, who eliminated v after 2-1 (6:3, 5:7, 5:1) and the retirement of the Frenchwoman due to injury. The 107th in the world put up serious resistance and even won the second set, but in the decisive third part, she suffered a calf injury and failed to finish the match.
