Ashleigh Barty is not having a great period. The world no.1 looked in fine form at the very beginning of the Australian swing to win a WTA event in Melbourne. However, Barty crashed out in the Australian Open’s quarterfinal against Karolina Muchova when she was in full control of the match. Later, Barty decided to compete in Adelaide, but she lost as early as in the 2nd round to an inspired Danielle Collins.

The injury and the rankings

Ashleigh Barty remained at the top of the rankings thanks to the freezing of the points decided by the WTA because of the global pandemic. However, that is practically over and Barty will shed important points starting from the upcoming Miami Open (22nd of March) where she is the defending champion.

Barty withdrew from Doha citing a leg injury and now she decided to pull out also from Dubai. In theory, Ashley may be back for the Miami Open, but there are some other doubts about that since she seems to be rather adverse about traveling during the pandemic.

Naomi Osaka and the world no.1

Naomi Osaka is the world no.2 and she holds 2 slams. Osaka is 1351 points shy from Barty in the rankings and she has not many points to defend in Miami, where she lost in the 3rd round in 2019 to Su-Wei Hsieh. Therefore, with Barty not adding any points on the occasion of the Middle East swing, Naomi Osaka will get closer and closer to the world no.1 spot. That seems to be inevitable in the course of 2021.

Ashleigh Barty in 2021

Currently ranked no.1, Barty played her last match on the 24th of February when she was defeated by Danielle Collins 6-3 6-4 in the 2nd round in Adelaide (draw).

Currently, during this year the Australian achieved a composed 8-2 match record. Ashleigh has won 1 title in Melbourne.

 

Naomi Osaka in 2021

At the moment ranked no.2, Osaka played her last match on the 20th of February when she beat Jennifer Brady 6-4 6-3 in the final of the Australian Open to win her 7th career title.

At the moment, during this season Osaka has managed to achieve an overall 10-0 record. Osaka conquered 1 title at the Australian Open.

Ashleigh Barty and Naomi Osaka squared off 4 times. Their actual head to head record is 2-2. The last time they played each other, Naomi Osaka won 3-6 6-3 6-2 in the final in Beijing (China Open) in October 2019.

In the video below you can watch the highlights.

Ashleigh Barty and Naomi Osaka

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