Williams vs Barty 31/05/2018

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Serena Williams vs Ashleigh Barty Tennis Prediction

Serena Williams edges past Kristyna Pliskova in the first round (7-6 6-4) to record her first Grand Slam win since the 2017 Australian Open triumph and her first clay win since 2016. There were a total of 28 aces in the match, 15 from Pliskova (a record against Williams).
Williams made her comeback from the maternity break with a doubles tie at Fed Cup in February. In March, she played at Indian Wells and Miami, losing in the third (l. V. Williams) and first (l. Osaka) round, respectively.
The French Open has been the 23-times slam champion’s least successful slam, in terms of the number of matches won (61) and titles (3). Williams has suffered two slam second round losses in career, at 2014 French Open (Muguruza) and 1998 Australian Open (l. V. Williams).
Ashleigh Barty eases past Natalia Vikhlyantseva in 64 minutes with a scoreline of 6-4 6-1 to progress into the second round of the French Open for the second time (2013, l. Kirilenko). Winning 83% behind her first serve, Barty saved all five break point she faced.
Barty came to Paris after retiring in the semifinals of Strasbourg due to back issues. Playing at that tournament as the top-seed, the Aussie registered her career’s first clay semifinal, defeating Qiang Wang and Parmentier en route.
Williams defeated Barty in the first round of the 2014 Australian Open in just 57 minutes (6-2 6-1). The scenarios are much different today as a far closer encounter can be expected. Barty is seeking her first third-round appearance in a non hard-court slam, having reached that stage at Australian and US Open.