Quarter-final opponent
Jessica Pegula
AGE: 27
COUNTRY: United States
RANKING: 21
SEEDING: 21
HEAD TO HEAD: Barty 1,Pegula 0
Australia is fast becoming a happy hunting ground for 27-year-old Pegula,who has matched her career-best result at a major and reached back-to-back Australian Open quarter-finals. You’ll hear plenty of mentions that Pegula is thedaughter of billionaires Terry Pegula and Kim Pegula,who own two US professional sporting teams,but more and more the right-handed Pegula is being noticed because of her tennis.
Ominously,Pegula has only dropped one set through four matches at the Open – all the way back in round one. It’s a good match-up for Barty,who avoids a higher ranked player in the final eight. Pegula was one of Barty’s beaten opponents at Roland Garros in 2019 when the Queenslander won her first major.
Potential semi-final opponents
BARBORA KREJCIKOVA
AGE: 26
COUNTRY: Czech Republic
RANKING: 4
SEEDING: 4
HEAD TO HEAD: Barty 2,Krejcikova 0