Ashleigh Barty of Australia, the number one seed, will play Polona Hercog of Slovenia in the second round of the Australian Open on Wednesday, January 22. The match is scheduled for 12.15 pm local time (1.15 am BST) and you can find the Ashleigh Barty v Polona Hercog live streaming options along with its preview, head to head and tips here.
Looking to watch the Ashleigh Barty v Polona Hercog live streaming online?
- For tennis fans in the UK, Europe, Australia & elsewhere go to bet365 > Tennis > Live Streaming here* to watch & bet on the ATP & WTA tennis live.
- Also get all the information how to buy tennis tickets with our guide here
[the_ad id=”14063″]
*Geo-restrictions apply & pre-funded account needed
Ashleigh Barty v Polona Hercog Head to Head
The pair have never played each other before. This will be the first meeting between the world number one, and the Slovenian, ranked 47 places below her.
Barty, Needs to Guard Against Complacency
Not only is Barty the world number one, but she is also favourite to win this tournament for the first time on home soil. The winner of the French Open and WTA Finals last year has never been beyond the quarter-finals here before, but this looks to be a golden opportunity for her.
Having been shocked by the qualifier Jennifer Brady in her first event of the year in Brisbane, she warmed-up for Melbourne by winning her 8th WTA title last week, beating Dayana Yastremska in the final in Adelaide.
Whether that made her think that she just had to turn up on court to beat Lesya Tsurenko of Ukraine in her first round match is debatable, but she was certainly shocked into action by the world 124, who took the first set off her, before Barty stormed back to take the next two.
At this stage of the competition, complacency may be her greatest enemy.
Hercog, Equalled Her Previous Best in Melbourne
Hercog has been a professional since 2006, but this is only the second time that she has reached the second round in Melbourne.
She has been in six WTA finals, winning three of them, most recently in Lugano, Switzerland last year, her first title in seven years. But all of those finals have been on clay, and she tends to struggle away from her favourite surface.
Prior to the tournament she had not played competitively since losing to Belinda Bencic in Moscow in October, choosing to skip-up any of the warm-up tournaments prior to Melbourne. She, therefore, could have been expected to be a little rusty in her opening match with Rebecca Peterson of Sweden, but showed few signs of it, beating a woman four places above her in the world rankings in straight sets.
Ashleigh Barty v Polona Hercog Predictions & Tips
It is difficult to make any sort of case for this being anything but a straight sets victory for Barty, playing against a woman playing in the second round in Melbourne for only the second time, and who is far happier on a clay court. Provided the Australian takes nothing for granted, she should cruise into the next round.
Tip: Barty to win in straight sets: 2/7 (Click here to get these odds with Unibet)
You can watch & bet on Barty v Hercog on Wednesday, January 22 here. . Get the latest tennis predictions and tips here.
Be the first to comment