Picture Credit: Twitter
World number one Ashleigh Barty is in some form. She has had a great start to the year and the top-seed of the Australian Open 2022 maintained her undefeated record in the competition with an easy 6-2, 6-3 win against Camila Giorgi on Friday. The victory implies that Barty has now won 7 games in a row this year after having clinched the Adelaide International and is yet to even drop a set.
In a form in which she apparently can do no wrong, a viral video even shows her playing quite the most perfect leg glance with the help of a tennis racquet. The cricket shot seemed straight out of the textbook and perhaps was played during her warm-up.
Here is the clip:
Post the Australian's win over her Italian opponent, she will now face young American Amanda Anisimova, who is fresh from a win over defending champion Naomi Osaka. They will meet in what promises to be a thriller of a fourth-round women's singles clash.
"It was a pretty good performance," the 25-year-old said after her third-round win terming it "clean".
"The way she hits the ball and covers the court, it was my job to get her off the baseline ... I am able to use my slice effectively," she added.
The fact that she dominated Giorgi was also partly due to the fact that she had just lost three sets in total before reaching to round three and had plenty remaining in her tank to play her best game in this match. The 30-year-old opponent of Barty appeared to be a serious threat at least on paper but the sheer form of the Australian and the class that she has time and again displayed on the tennis court made easy work of the match.
Apart from her incredible run in 2022, another scarcely believable stat is that she hasn't lost a service game for six straight matches. She would definitely want to target nothing but the title in the season-opening Grand Slam, making hay when the sun seems to be shining bright on her.