Ash Barty will need to do things the hard way if she’s to win her first Australian Open title after copping a demanding draw on Thursday.
Ash Barty faces a rough run to claim her maiden Australian Open crown as a clash against four-time grand slam winner Naomi Osaka looms in the fourth round.
The Aussie World No. 1’s side of the draw features 5th seed Maria Sakkari, 9th seed Ons Jabeur, 13th seed Osaka, 21st seed Jessica Pegula, 22nd seed Belinda Bencic, 28th seed Veronika Kudermetova and 30th seed Camila Giorgi.
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Barty could face Giorgi in round three, Osaka or Bencic in the fourth round, or the remainder in the quarterfinals.
Osaka took time out from tennis last year as she sparked controversy by refusing to attend press conferences before getting knocked out of the French Open in the second round. The former world No. 1 skipped Wimbledon and while she only made it to the third round of the US Open last September, she would be an extremely tough opponent for Barty.
Hard court is her favourite surface — Osaka boasts two Australian Open titles and two US Open crowns — so the Japanese player would fancy her chances of going deep in the draw, even if she has to face Barty earlier than hoped.
Barty, who won the French Open in 2019 and Wimbledon last year, was knocked out in the quarter-finals of her home slam last year and will be hoping to better her semi-final appearance in 2020 — her best ever result at Melbourne Park.
Elsewhere among the Aussie female contingent, Ajla Tomljanovic is on the same side of the draw to Barty but would only face her in the semi-finals, if they both get that far, and has a difficult first round against 8th seed Paula Badosa.
Astra Sharma faces Denmark’s world No. 41 Clara Tauson in the first round, Daria Saville plays the 93rd-ranked Swede Rebecca Peterson, Maddison Inglis takes on 27th seed and US Open finalist Leylah Fernandez, Priscilla Hon plays 31st seed Marketa Vondrousova and Storm Sanders plays 2nd seed Aryna Sabalenka.
Sam Stosur has a clash against American wildcard and world No. 172 Robin Anderson in what will be her final Australian Open campaign.
Originally published as Ash Barty dealt tough Australian Open draw as Naomi Osaka looms large