Shenzhen: World No.1 Ashleigh Barty clinched pole position in the Red Group after defeating Petra Kvitova in straight sets Thursday at the WTA Finals here. Barty, the French Open champion stormed into the semifinals with a crushing 6-4, 6-2 win in 88 minutes at the Shenzhen Bay Sports Centre here. The result knocked out the winless Czech from the round-robin tournament.
Ashleigh Barty, who had already sealed the year-end No.1 ranking, rebounded after a three-set loss Tuesday to late replacement Kiki Bertens.
“I felt like I executed really well,” Barty said after the match. “I knew I had to play aggressively. I’m really excited to still have another chance to play here and gun for the title.”
Petra Kvitova had a scare in the third game of the first set but saved two breakpoints to hold her serve, which was being targeted by an aggressive Barty. But the Australian’s consistency wore down an error-strewn Kvitova and she grabbed a decisive break in the fifth game.
Barty had breakpoints against her serve in the sixth and eighth games but withstood Kvitova’s attempts to get back into the first set.
Kvitova, the oldest player in the draw, changed tactics early in the second set and attacked the net but Barty had the answers to reach the semifinals on her WTA Finals debut.
AFP
