Australia’s golden girl Ash Barty takes an early lead against her opponent Shelby Rogers as she attempts to snag a place in the Australian Open quarter finals
- Australia’s Ash Barty is in action against rising American Shelby Rogers
- Barty is looking to better her semi-final finish at the Australian Open in 2020
Ash Barty looks in ominous touch early on in her fourth round match against American Shelby Rogers at the Australian Open.
The women’s world number one walked out to a deserted Rod Laver Arena on Monday night due to Melbourne‘s five-day lockdown, but the lack of a crowd didn’t deter the home town favourite.
Barty, 24, was on song from the outset in the first set, comfortably breaking Rogers early to move out to a 3-1 lead in the first set.
Australia’s Ash Barty (pictured above) hits a backhand return against Shelby Rogers
She was soon in complete control, with her sublime ground strokes seeing her jump out to a 4-1 lead against a shell-shocked Rogers.
Just as the on court Barty was presumably about to start, Rogers almost clawed her way back into the match.
The world number 57, from Mt Pleasant in South Carolina, had a number of break points on the Barty serve, but the-one time women’s Big Bash player with the Brisbane Heat held her nerve to bounce out to a 5-2 lead.
