AO - Day 5 - Barty v Rybakina

First match on Day Five on RLA, 2020 AO - top seed Ashleigh Barty against Elena Rybakina from Kazakhstan in their first meeting.

Both had won lead up tournaments, Barty in Adelaide, Rybakina in Hobart.

Barty served first, and was broken to love, Rybakina hitting a forehand winner and Barty throwing in three unforced errors.

The break back occurred, Rybakina winning just the one point, Barty hitting a forehand winner in the process.

Barty lost serve again after having a 30-0 lead, and Rybakina wasted two game points en route to dropping her second service game - it was 2-2.

Barty began game five with an ace. A sliced backhand was genius. Rybakina donated a sizzling backhand, but it wasn’t enough to prevent the first service hold of the match, Barty finishing with solid serves. 3-2 to the top seed.

Rybakina found herself in service trouble for a third time, She led 30-0 following a backhand drive down the line, but then lost her way, putting a forehand long, suffering from a Barty touch volley, then messing up a smash at the net. A simple overhead miss cost Rybakina the break and Barty led 4-2.

This became 5-2 in a flash with a Barty love game - two Rybakina return errors and an ace to finish.

Rybakina saved a set point when serving at 2-5, but Barty would serve for it at 5-3. A volley winner, a Rybakina backhand error, and another volley winner created three set points. A forehand clinched it 6-3.

Set two began with Barty breaking the Rybakina serve, a double fault not helping, and the Barty forehand damaging. 

In a prolonged second game, Barty let 40-15 slip, and had to stave off three break points before consolidating a 2-0 position. The next two games were much more conventional and Rybakina went to the line at 1-3.

A Kazakhstan backhand winner and and another backhand forcing an Australian error gave Rybakina 30-0. Barty hit a forehand winner, and Rybakina hit the net for 30-30. An overplayed backhand from the 29th seed brought up break point and her double fault presented Barty with a double break.

As in the second game Barty struggled to consolidate the break, needing once again to save a trio of break points. Achieving this, the Australian led 5-1.

Rybakina held, ensuring Barty had to serve to win, which she did, saving a break point but securing a round of sixteen berth when Rybakina hit her backhand wide.

6-3 6-2.