Ashleigh Barty vs Karolina Muchova Tips - Sublime Barty too much for Muchova

Top seed Ashleigh Barty takes on Karolina Muchova, the 25th seed from the Czech Republic for a place in the semifinals of the 2021 Australian Open on Wednesday. 

Queensland’s own Barty has been superb in this competition, and has had an air of complete confidence about her as she has eased through her first four matches without the loss of a set. Barty was a quarterfinalist in Melbourne in 2019, and a semifinalist last year. It would seem her destiny is to reach the final in 2021. 

Muchova has never previously cracked the WTA top-20, but you’d never know based off her victories in Melbourne. Still yet to drop a set, she has already eliminated the 2017 French Open champion Jelena Ostapenko and former world no.1 Karolina Pliskova.

 

However her winning run will come to an end on Wednesday against Barty. The top seed will win this match, although if Muchova plays with confidence and with nothing to lose she could win a set.

Ashleigh Barty and Karolina Muchova have only played each other once before. That match took place at the US Open in 2018, and Barty won 6-3 6-4. 

In the previous two matches of Ash Barty’s Melbourne campaign, I predicted her opponents - Ekaterina Alexandrova in the third round and Shelby Rogers in the fourth - would take a set from her.

However, whenever an opponent has had any level of success against Barty in a match and broken her serve, she has immediately raised her level, broken straight back, and regained control. 

The only player who could beat Barty in Melbourne in this form is bookies favorite Naomi Osaka, and hopefully those two will meet in the final. 

The 5’11” 24-year old Muchova lost in the second round here in Melbourne last year, and went on to have a so-so 2020. She is unbeaten in six matches in 2021, having won two then withdrawn from the Gippsland Trophy warm-up event. 

Muchova served notice that she might be one to watch when she knocked out Jelena Ostapenko, the 2017 French Open champion, in the first round 7-5 6-2. Still only 23-year old, Ostapenko is on the comeback trail after her ranking dropped to 84th in the world, and is now up to 47.

In the second round Muchova beat German veteran Mona Barthel 6-4 6-1, and she then stunned the sixth seed and former world no.1 Karolina Pliskova 7-5 7-5. 

Still Muchova wasn’t done; in round four she eliminated 2018 Aussie Open semifinalist and former world no.12 Elise Mertens of Belgium, the 18th seed.