Ashleigh Barty vs Shelby Rogers Prediction & Betting Tips - WTA Australian Open

Prediction published on 14/02/2021, 10:08  by Steve Ashfield | Modified on 14/02/2021 at 11:09 in Tennis Predictions

Number one seed Ashleigh Barty continues her bid to win the Australian Open for the first time. The Australian takes on the unseeded American Shelby Rogers in the last sixteen. Barty has never made it to the final in her home Grand Slam. Her best performance has been a semi-final appearance last year but she lost in straight sets to eventual winner Sofia Kenin. Barty played in February but then opted to miss the rest of last year due to the ongoing health crisis. Her return to the circuit this year has already been a successful one. Barty won the Yarra Valley Classic with wins over Garbine Muguruza and Serena Williams. She also beat Shelby Rogers in the quarter final of that event but had to go to three sets to do so. The Australian has been in good form in this tournament with three straight sets wins. Take away one set won on a tie-break and the other five winning sets have seen her drop just seven games, including a 6-0 6-0 win over Danka Kovinic in the first round.

Shelby Rogers is ranked 57th in the world and has only reached two Grand Slam quarter finals. The first was at the 2016 French Open and the most recent was the 2020 US Open. This is by far her best performance at the Australian Open. Her previous best was a second round in 2017 and three times she's lost in the first round here.  As mentioned previously, Rogers reached the quarter finals of the Yarra Valley Classic beating world number 18 Petra Martic before losing to Barty. The American is yet to drop a set in this tournament and beat the 21st seed Anett Kontaveit in the third round. Barty has won her previous two meetings against Rogers and can make it three with victory here.