Melbourne
World number one Ashleigh Barty’s defensive mastery flummoxed big-hitting Shelby Rogers on Monday as she stormed into the Australian Open quarter-finals to heighten hopes of a first home winner in 43 years.
The Australian was ruthless in her 6-3, 6-4 victory over the in-form Rogers in one hour and 11 minutes in the fourth round at a crowd-less Rod Laver Arena.
Barty, who is aiming to become the first Australian champion since Chris O’Neil in 1978, plays 25th seed Karolina Muchova in the quarter-finals after the Czech beat 18th seed Elise Mertens 7-6 (7/5), 7-5. ‘I love playing at home and sharing this with my friends and family,’ said Barty, who hit 21 winners.
‘She’s a player that can take the game away from you very quickly, so I needed my running shoes on,’ she said of Rogers, the world number 57. ‘I served well and I tried to be in control of as many points as I could.’
The former French Open champion again appeared unfazed by the absence of home support in the stands, with fans barred until at least Thursday due to Melbourne’s snap, five-day lockdown. Having been pushed to the brink by Rogers just last week in the Yarra Valley Classic quarter-finals, an aggressive Barty stepped up the intensity with strong serving and blunted the American’s groundstrokes with a slew of brilliant retrievals.—APP
