@@ -1,1 +1,1 @@ - +<br>Casino-loving underdog Jessica Pegula knows she must roll the dice to have any hope of defying the odds and stopping the house favourite Ash Barty at Melbourne Park.<br> <br>After romping through the draw without dropping a set en route to the Australian Open's last eight, Barty enters Tuesday night's quarter-finals a heavy favourite to continue her seemingly relentless march to the title.<br> <br>Even Pegula accepts as much.<br> <br>"I feel like Ash is so tactical in everything she does. Really a smart, like perfect kind of tennis player in that way," the American said.<br> <br>Pegula's coach David Witt agrees.<br> <br>"She has so many different weapons," he said.<br> <br>"The slice backhand. She's just super smart on the court. Her serve is probably one of the most underrated, it's really good.<br> <br>"Whether she has 10 aces or no aces, she moves it around unbelievably.<br> <br>"Her coming in, she has an all-purpose game where she can come in, volley, the slice. She's very smart on the court on her shot selection."<br> <br>So smart that Witt says Australia's world No.1 has a knack of dragging her opponents out of their comfort zone.<br> <br>"Ash tries to bait you into kind of going for shots maybe that you shouldn't go for," he said.<br> <br>At least Pegula is well practised at gambling.<br> <br>The 21st seed has spent much of her down time in Melbourne on the card tables of Crown Casino.<br> <br>So risk-taking against Barty and trying to beat the house should come naturally.<br> <br>"I've been like six times. I was going every single night," Pegula said of her frequent trips to the casino.<br> <br>"There literally is a little walkway, like a two-minute walk across to my hotel.<br> <br>"I just go and play some blackjack.<br> <br>"It sounds silly, but it got me. It was good for me because it kind of relaxes you.<br> <br>"But you have to think a little bit in blackjack - what to play.<br> <br>"It's good because it got me thinking about strategy and all this stuff but, at the same time, it would kill some time and relax me.<br> <br>"I'm not losing like a ton of money or anything."<br> <br>Not that she can't afford it.<br> <br>Pegula is the daughter of the billionaire owners of the Buffalo Bills.<br> <br>If the Bills' heartbreaking 42-36 overtime loss to the Kansas City Chiefs on Monday's Super Bowl qualifier is any kind of omen, Pegula will fall to Barty in a third-set tiebreaker.<br> <br>At least now the Bills are done, her parents and friends' full attention can turn to her showdown with Barty for a spot in the Australian Open semi-finals.<br> <br>"Obviously it's better when you're winning in those positions," she said.<br> <br>"But it's a cool thing to look forward to.<br><br>When you loved this article as well as you would like to obtain details relating to [https://rankthai.com/casino-online/ คาสิโนออนไลน์] generously check out our web site. It's fun to get the fans involved because there's not a lot of tennis in Buffalo.<br> <br>"It's nice that everyone is fired up about me winning and fired up about the game. It makes it really fun."<br> <br>Barty or Pegula, a quarter-finalist at Melbourne Park for the second year running, will face either fourth-seeded French Open champion Barbora Krejcikova or American Maddison Keys for a spot in Saturday's title match.<br>