Italian Open 2021: Ashleigh Barty vs Yaroslava Shvedova preview, head-to-head & prediction

Match details

Fixture: (1) Ashleigh Barty vs Yaroslava Shvedova

Date: 12 May 2021

Tournament: Internazionali BNL d'italia 2021

Round: Second round (Round of 32)

Venue: Rome, Italy

Category: WTA 1000

Surface: Red clay

Prize money: €1,577,613

Match timing: 10 am local time, 1.30 pm IST

Live telecast: USA - Tennis Channel | UK - Amazon Prime Video

Ashleigh Barty vs Yaroslava Shvedova preview

World No. 1 Ashleigh Barty will look to continue her incredible claycourt run at the 2021 Italian Open this week.

Barty won the Porche Tennis Grand Prix in Stuttgart last month, defeating Karolina Pliskova, Elina Svitolina and Aryna Sabalenka along the way. She then finished as the runner-up at the Madrid Open, where she got the better of the likes of Iga Swiatek and Petra Kvitova before bowing out to Aryna Sabalenka in the final.

The 2019 French Open champion will have to defend 2,000 ranking points in Paris next month, but her impressive run of results on clay will give her the confidence to do exactly that. Barty will look to pick up more points through a deep run in Rome, where she takes on veteran Yaroslava Shvedova in the second round.

Yaraoslava Shvedova at the 2016 US Open

Shvedova was a mainstay on the WTA tour throughout the early 2010s, reaching a career-high ranking of World No. 25. She did, however, take a nearly three-year absence from professional tennis starting from 2017.

The 33-year-old returned to the tour in early 2020, and had won only one of her 10 singles matches prior to the Italian Open. But Shvedova impressively turned around a one-set deficit against local favorite Martina Trevisan on Tuesday to set up the encounter against Barty.

The Kazakh was bageled in the first round but she ground out two tiebreakers to win 0-6, 7-6 (4), 7-6(6).

Ashleigh Barty vs Yaroslava Shvedova head-to-head

The second-round encounter in Rome is the first professional meeting between Ashleigh Barty and Yaroslava Shvedova, so their head-to-head currently stands at 0-0.

Ashleigh Barty vs Yaroslava Shvedova prediction

Ashleigh Barty comes into this match as the overwhelming favorite. The Australian will look to go from strength to strength in Rome starting off with what seems like a relatively straightforward encounter.

Barty's aggressive game has done wonders on clay this year. She has served very efficiently and found consistent power and depth on her groundstrokes over the last few weeks. The 25-year-old's variety and quick foot speed have also been on full display.

Ashleigh Barty

At her best, Yaroslava Shvedova was known for her powerful serve and nifty skills at the net. The Kazakh also showed incredible fighting spirit in the first round on Tuesday, turning around a seemingly hopeless situation to beat a player who had all the crowd support.

However, given her recent rustiness and lack of match sharpness, it is hard to see Shvedova get anything out of the match against Barty.

Prediction: Ashleigh Barty to win in straight sets.