Australian Open 2022: Brutal Ash Barty demolishes Lucia Bronzetti to reach third round

World No. 1 Ash Barty eased into the third round of the Australian Open with the minimum of fuss on Wednesday, overwhelming Italian qualifier Lucia Bronzetti 6-1, 6-1 on Rod Laver Arena. The top seed hammered 11 winners to wrap up the first set in 25 minutes and was equally dominant in the second, sealing the victory in under an hour when her opponent netted a backhand.

Bronzetti, the world number 142, failed to muster up a single break point over the contest as the Wimbledon champion lobbed, sliced and pounded her into submission in the bright Melbourne sunshine. Barty, hoping to end Australia’s 44-year wait for a homegrown women’s champion, next faces another Italian in Camila Giorgi with defending champion Naomi Osaka potentially waiting in the fourth round.

52 minutes is all @ashbarty needs to move into the third round, notching a 6-1 6-1 victory over Lucia Bronzetti.

The world No.1 meets Camila Giorgi next #AusOpen * #AO2022
: @wwos * @espn * @Eurosport * @wowowtennis pic.twitter.com/2ffKyaYVD9 — #AusOpen (@AustralianOpen) January 19, 2022

Former Australian Open champion and No. 24 seed Victoria Azarenka also booked her place in the third round with a 6-1, 6-2 demolition of Jil Teichmann of Switzerland. Joining Azarenka in the third round was Spanish No. 8 seed Paula Badosa, who defeated Italy’s Martina Trevisan 6-0, 6-3 in a second round match on Wednesday.

Azarenka, who is on WTA Players’ council, then spoke about the issue of Novak Djokovic’s deportation just ahead of the Australian Open 2022. “From my point of view it’s very clear. I believe in science and in vaccination. I don't wanna push my beliefs on everybody else, but we play a global sport, traveling around the world and we have to respect different countries,” Azarenka said.

“This whole situation could have been prevented from the beginning. (...) Could have been adressed earlier. Nobody looked good in this situation, it was a circus. On certain things black and white approach is necessary instead of having a grey area,” the two-time Australian Open champion added.

However, No. 32 seed Sara Sorribes Tormo of Spain was sent packing by unseeded Ukrainian Marta Kostyuk 7-6 (5), 6-3 in round two. Ukraine’s Elina Svitolina, the No. 15 seed, survived a second successive three-set match when her opponent Harmony Tan of France retired while trailing 1-5 in the final set. Earlier, Svitolina had won the first set 6-3 while Tan clinched the second 7-5.

(with Reuters inputs)