World number one and Australia’s Ash Barty will be up against the Spaniard Garbine Muguruza in the final of the 2021 WTA Yarra Valley Classic on Sunday, February 7, with the match likely to begin at around 11 am local time (12 midnight BST). Get the live streaming options of this Ash Barty v Garbine Muguruza match along with its preview, head to head, and tips here.
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Ash Barty v Garbine Muguruza Head to Head
There have been four previous matches between these two players with Barty leading 3-1 on head to head.
Their rivalry began in 2017 at Birmingham where Barty won the semifinal on grass in three sets. Muguruza levelled the scoreline with a three-set win in Toronto that very year but following that there have been two matches, in 2019 and 2020 and Barty has won both. These came at the Hopman Cup and the Qatar Open respectively.
Also Read:
Barty Benefits from Serena Withdrawal
The world number one Barty had come into the tournament having not played the entire of the second part of the season post the pandemic break. There were bound to be a few nerves, a few jitters and oodles of rustiness.
And she looks like she has overcome all of that, defeating Ana Bogdan in straight sets in the second round after an opening bye and then needing three sets against Marie Bouzkova and Shelby Rogers, two very tricky opponents.
Her biggest test was expected to come in the semifinal against Serena Williams, and an in-form Williams at that, but the American withdrew from that encounter because of an injury. While on the one hand it meant Barty was left untested in the lead-up to not just this final but also the Australian Open, it also gave her time to recover from what has been an exhausting week.
After all, there’s always a worry of fitness returning back after this kind of a hiatus and featuring in matches on successive days.
And as far as testing opponents, her next one on Sunday would be one of the best in the business by current form.
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Muguruza in Never-Seen-Before Avatar?
She is a two-time Grand Slam winner, so it is tough to say the current tournament has seen Muguruza better her performances from that phase where she lifted the titles at the French Open and Wimbledon. However, looking back at her hard court performances over the years, this week has to count among her best if not the best.
The Spaniard, who reached the third round at the Abu Dhabi Open earlier in January before falling Maria Sakkari, has played and won four matches in Melbourne but it’s the manner of wins that takes the cake.
Muguruza dropped just two games against Alison van Uytvanck, beat Alison Pavlyuchenkova 6-1, 6-2, then crushed the defending Australian Open champion Sofia Kenin 6-2, 6-2, before blitzing past the in-form Marketa Vondrousova 6-1, 6-0 to make it to the final.
Now while Barty will pose the biggest threat of them all, one thing is for certain – on current form, Muguruza will back herself to overcome most top players on the WTA charts.
Barty v Muguruza Prediction and Tip
It comes as no surprise that Muguruza starts off a favourite and at 8/11 we think these are solid odds to go with the Spaniard winning this encounter.
Tip: Muguruza to win: 8/11 (bet365)
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The 2021 WTA Yarra Valley Classic will be played from January 31. You can watch & bet on the these matches here. Get your latest premium tennis predictions here.
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