It’s the match that Bendigo International organisers wanted, they just didn’t expect it to be in the first round.
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Young Aussie star Ash Barty takes on number one seed Risa Ozaki on court one at 10am on Wednesday.
It has the potential to be match worthy of the final, but one of the tournament drawcards will meet an early departure.
“Risa is awfully consistent and we’ve played (against each other) a lot through the juniors,’’ Barty said.
“Hopefully, this brings back some good memories and I’m sure we’ll have a good battle.”
On the comeback trail after a brief stint as a cricketer, Barty wants to use the Bendigo International as the launching pad for a big season in Australia.
“This is the start of the summer for me and I’m hoping to play a few matches this week and use it as a springboard into summer.”
The first round of singles action and the final round of qualifying was played on Tuesday.
It was a mixed day for the Aussies in the main draw, with four players winning and five losing first round matches.
Four of the matches were all-Australian affairs. Jaimee Fourlis proved too good for Storm Sanders 6-3 6-4, while Destanee Aiava outplayed Jessica Moore 6-4 6-1.
Naiktha Bains outclassed Angelique Svinos 6-0 6-1 and Lizette Cabreera held off Alison Bai in a three-set thriller 3-6 6-3 7-6.
The other Aussie player to lose was veteran Monique Adamczak, who went down to Thailand’s Varatchaya Wongteanchai 6-2 6-2.
Italy’s Georgia Brescia, the Ukraine’s Marianna Zakarlyuk, PNG’s Abigail Tere-Apisah and the USA’s Yuki Kristina Chiang won their final round qualifying matches to advance to the main draw.
Order of play for Wednesday’s first round singles matches:
Court 1 – 10am: Ash Barty v Risa Ozaki (1). Not before 11am: Olivia Rogowska v Eri Hozumi (5). Not before 12.30pm: Georgia Brescia v Asia Muhammad (2).
Court 2 – 10am: Noppawan Lertcheewakarn v Tammi Patterson. Not before 11am: Julia Glushko (3) v Marianna Zakarlyuk. Not before 12.30pm: Olivia Tjandramulia v Arina Rodionova (4).
Court 6 – 10am: Maddison Inglis v Shuko Aoyama (7). Not before 11am: Yuri Kristina Chiang v Abiqall Tere-Apisah.
Court 8 – 10am: Jana Fett (6) v Katy Dunne. Not before 11am: Jennifer Elie (8) v Katarzyna Kawa.
Quaer-final doubles matches will be played from 2pm onwards on courts one and two.
Entry is free for spectators at the Bendigo Tennis Centre in Nolan Street.