Ashleigh Barty vs Karolina Muchova Prediction & Betting Tips - WTA Australian Open

Prediction published on 15/02/2021, 12:53  by Steve Ashfield | Modified on 15/02/2021 at 15:28 in Tennis Predictions

Number one seed Ashleigh Barty is just three wins away from her first Australian Open title. She takes on Karolina Muchova who is seeded 25th for this tournament. Barty didn't play after February of last year, not wanting to travel during the pandemic. There was plenty of interest on how she'd cope after a lengthy break but her form has been good so far. Barty won the Yarra Valley Classic this year and has reached the quarter finals here without dropping a single set. The last round saw her defeat Shelby Rogers for the loss of only seven games. In eight sets played so far in this tournament, only one has seen her drop more than four games. Her best performance in her home Grand Slam is a semi-final last year where she lost to eventual champion Sofia Kenin (already out this year's tournament). 

Her opponent is in only her second Grand Slam quarter final. The other was three years ago at Wimbledon and she lost in straight sets to Elina Svitolina. Since then, the best she has achieved until this week is a run to the fourth round of the US Open last year, losing in three sets to Viktoria Azarenka. Muchova didn't fare well in her two warm-up events but has shown improved form here. Her first three matches were won in straight sets and that included knocking out sixth seeded Karolina Pliskova in round three. The fourth round saw another straight sets win, this time defeating 18th seeded Elise Mertens. Her only previous meeting with Barty was at the 2018 US Open where Barty won 6-3 6-4. Both these players are in good form but Barty looks the most impressive and can get the win here to reach the last four.