 What's up everybody welcome back to tennis talk. My name is Cam Williams and the Olympics is starting in a couple of days time So it's a great idea to go through the draw of the players and the real contenders of the tournament Who is actually playing for the gold medals? We're starting with the world number one Ash Barty Seeing what her road to the title and to the gold medal is gonna be she got some tough customers along the way and some Big players that she has to play in the semifinals in the final starting in the first round She has Tormo in the first round now Tormo is having her best season yet She's at a career high ranking. She also won her first title this year on a hard court However, they've never played before so this is the first time meeting between Barty and Tormo So Barty's gonna be careful because like I said Tormo is in great form on the hard courts especially and Tormo She loves to get fired up and she is playing for Spain so that might give her a little bit of extra energy So that means Barty needs to be on her best game her second round opponent is most likely gonna be Sever Stover who's currently the world number 47 but has been as high as number 11 in the world Now these two have actually played the one time before with Sever Stover getting a win But it was a few years ago now and Barty is a different player to what she was a couple of years ago So it's gonna be a different story I feel if they do play in that second round But again Barty's gonna be on her guard because Sever Stover has had some of her best results on hard courts Especially at the slams the US Open being the big one where she made a semi-final there a few years ago So Barty she's gonna be careful against Sever Stover her third round opponent going by the seeds is most likely gonna be The French Open finalist and number 13 seed in this event Pavle Cenkava who's starting to reach her career best form She's made multiple quarterfinals at the US Open and Australian Open which is on the same surface is what we're playing here So gotta be careful Barty also 3-3 is the head-to-head record between these two so it split right down the middle They played a lot against each other and it's a very even matchup So Barty again she better be playing her best otherwise Pavle Cenkava could cause an upset Barty does make it to the quarter Finals she's probably gonna be playing against the French Open champion Cenkava Cenkava is actually in a lot of form as well because not only is she to career high ranking at number 11 She also just won her first hard court title in singles at the Prague Open two weeks ago So she is on a roll in form and a winning streak So Barty does play the French Open champion on a hard court could be difficult. They did play a couple weeks ago on the grass It's the only time they've ever met and Barty got the win at Wimbledon Of course Barty went on to win the title. Cenkava since then has gone away won a title on hard court So that could be a very difficult matchup for Barty. She does play Cenkava in that quarter final Barty makes it into the semi-finals She has to play against one of the biggest hitters in the game the number three seed Saber Lenker Who has been in great career best form for the entire year just made her first semi-final of a major back at Wimbledon also started the year off with a win on a hard court in Abu Dhabi So she knows how to play on hard courts and the record with Barty is four four So they played eight times split straight down the middle and they've had some epic battles this year having already played three times And Barty holding a 2-1 record in their 2021 meetings But the only time they played on a hard court was back in Miami in the quarterfinals and Barty got the win there in Three tight sets so if they do play in the semi-finals Expected to be a very close matchup for some reason every time these two play this year it goes three sets So it is going to be an absolute epic if the number one and number three seeds play in that gold medal match The person that's probably going to be waiting for Barty is the world number two and local hope Naomi Osaka Australian Open champion of course versus the Wimbledon champion It'd be a champ versus champ battle and Osaka's hard court form has been awesome She's only lost the one match on hard courts this year And of course has that win at the Australian Open which goes along with her other Australian open and US Open title So all their slams have been on hard courts and the head to head between these two is split straight down the middle at Two a piece so they played four times two two and the last time they played was actually in the final of Beijing back in 2019 Barty was world number one at the time and Osaka got the win in three sets So very close matchup between these two and haven't played for a couple of years So really intrigued if they do play for the gold medal especially being in Japan Will that hurt or help Osaka? But I expect to go three sets if they do play in that final So there it is the road to gold for Ash Barty. Let me know down the comments below. What are her chances? She is the favorite going in probably equal favorite with Osaka I would expect because Naomi Osaka is looking pretty good as well especially on hard courts in 2021 But again, let me know down the comments below. How far can Barty go? Will she win the gold medal or she even just get a medal? Maybe she might just get the bronze medal Remember players that lose in the semi-finals play each other for the third place trophy Which is the bronze medal Do you think Ash Barty can get a medal this year and if so can it be gold? So there it is the road to the gold medal for Ash Barty. Very tricky situation. A lot of tough players to play