Sunday Territorian

Barty in tough draw for Sydney

- DARREN WALTON

ASHLEIGH Barty faces the ultimate test of her Australian Open title credential­s after copping a brutal draw for next week’s Sydney Internatio­nal.

Barty plays 2017 French Open champion Jelena Ostapenko for the right to take on world No.1 Simona Halep in a second-round blockbuste­r at Olympic Park.

So hot is the women’s field – which officials suspect is the strongest ever assembled for a 30-player WTA event – that unseeded Barty could potentiall­y have to topple three grand slam champions in four matches just to repeat her run to last year’s final.

All up, the Sydney draw – with an incredible direct entry cut-off of No.28 – features eight of the world’s top 10 players and eight major winners. Win or lose against Ostapenko, the 15th-ranked Barty is certain to arrive in Melbourne for the Open starting on January 14 match-hardened.

The Australian No.1 has already played three matches at the Hopman Cup, downing former world No.1 Garbine Muguruza and Alize Cornet before falling to the secondrank­ed Wimbledon champion Angelique Kerber.

Barty isn’t the only Australian with a tough draw. Wildcard Samantha Stosur has been pitted against former Australian Open finalist Dominika Cibulkova, with the winner likely to run into reigning US Open champion Naomi Osaka in round two.

Ajla Tomljanovi­c plays free-hitting Camila Giorgi, while Daria Gavrilova opens against a yet-to-be-determined qualifier.

Fifth-seeded Alex de Minaur begins his quest to reach the men’s final for the second year in a row against Dusan Lajovic, while John Millman takes on Frances Tiafoe.

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