Ash Barty's chances of winning the 2021 Australian Open have been boosted by the elimination of several rivals from her side of the women's draw.
The world no.1 - who will take on American Shelby Rogers in the fourth round at Rod Laver Arena on Monday evening (7pm AEDT) - now has 18th-seed Elise Mertens as the highest-ranked opponent she could face on the road to the final.
On Barty's side of the draw, world no.5 Elina Svitolina was eliminated in the fourth round by unseeded Jessica Pegula on Monday, while defending champion and fourth seed Sofia Kenin saw her tournament ended by Kaia Kanepi in the second round.
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Other gun players to be knocked out of the top half of the draw include Karolina Pliskova (sixth seed), Belinda Bencic (11th seed) and Victoria Azarenka (12th seed).
If she gets past the 57th ranked Rogers, Barty will meet either Mertens or 25th seed Karolina Muchova in the quarter-finals.
Barty has beaten Mertens in straight sets in their only ever meeting on her way to the 2019 Sydney International final, while she defeated Muchova 6-3 6-4 at the 2018 US Open in their only match.
Including her possible semi-final opponents Donna Vekia/Jennifer Brady and Jessica Pegula, Barty has played a combined eight matches against the six players left on her side of the draw, winning seven of them in straight sets. Her solitary loss was a 6-4 7-6(4) defeat to Brady at last year's Brisbane International.
In total, Barty has won 14 sets and only lost two against the remaining six players in her half of the draw.
The 2019 French Open champion is yet to drop a set in the Australian Open so far, with a 6-0 6-0 victory against Danka Kovinic followed by straight sets wins against Daria Gavrilova and Ekaterina Alexandrova.
Her last match against Russia's Alexandrova was played without spectators after Victoria entered into a five-day lockdown on Saturday due to a COVID-19 outbreak.
The Australian star says she enjoys playing in empty arenas because she feels like she get an edge with the silence.
"It's not so much hearing the ball better, it's just a different sound, just a different echo. It's not indifferent to when the roof is closed, often you get a different echo on the court," Barty said in her post-match press conference.
"You could hear a pin drop in there at times so it's kind of a way to narrow your focus in on the sound of the ball. I find it's a way where I can listen to the spin the opponent is hitting on the ball or the pace it's coming.
"It's just another way for me to be able to absorb the information quickly to then adjust and change what I need to in order to then put the ball in a position I want to.
"So it was a new experience like I said, something I've never felt before in the sense of playing a match in those conditions, but I felt like we navigated through it quite well."
Barty has a 1-0 record over fourth-round opponent Rogers, beating her in two sets at the 2017 Australian Open.
The Queenslander achieved her best result in the Australian Open last year after being eliminated in the semi-finals.
