The No.1 World Series takes on a former World No.1 for a place in the Yarra Valley Classic final.
Hours after Ashleigh Barty defeated America Shelby Rogers in a match of maids, Serena Williams’ No. 5 seed followed suit with a 6-2, 4-6, cup. [10-6] win over No.13 seed Danielle Collins to establish the star-studded game in the last four.
Losing a set for the first time this week against Collins in form, which upset Karolina Pliskova in the previous round, Williams responded with aplomb in the tiebreak decision, riding the clutch attend across the finish line.
“It was a good game. I think Danielle is such an aggressive player, at least against key players in particular, so I knew I had to be ready for today,” Williams said. to reporters after the game.
“She’s playing well. I knew he was going to be a good guy. I’m glad I was able to get through that one in a break. Different but nice.”
After dropping the first four games of the game in short order, Australian vice-semifinalist Collins found his medal in the quarter-final position, forcing him to count on the scoreboard in the second set.
After a forward-moving service break, 4-3, the World No.46 dug out of a 0-40 grip to pocket his service game and eventually pushed a definite break – but after two faults on the first point, the last frame was all Williams.
Five points just stamped a 23-time Grand Slam catch on the abbreviated summary, and sealed victory on her third game point.
“I’ve been working on my service a lot because it’s such a good weapon and I want to keep it that way after those years,” said Williams, who hit eight places and missed a point the back of her first service in the breaker, added in her court interview.
“It’s really helpful to be in charge of that.”
Williams and Barty have played twice, but not since the 2018 French Open. The Americans have won both meetings – a 6-2, 6-1 win in the first round of the seven-year-old Australian Open. back, and a three-set in Paris, 3-6, 6-3, 6-4, but the first to say that these results don’t mean much compared to Barty’s mainstream ancestry.
The four-final track of Barty’s books
Playing her first WTA event in nearly a full year, the world’s top player was dragged into a convincing match but eventually overtook Rogers, 7-5, 2 -6, [10-4] on Friday to reach the semifinals of the Aussie summer event.
“It was sad,” Barty said, in her post-match interview. “I thought I was able to hang in there at times, and Shelby was able to knock me off the court at other times.
“An important start to that break, a bit of an unusual scoring system for us, but I had to get through to get another chance tomorrow.”
The top seed could go against U.S. No. 5 seed Serena Williams in the last four, if the American overtakes her partner Danielle Collins in a quarter-quarter affair later Friday .
Barty has dropped to a player positioned outside the top 50 just four times in the last two years, and while the powerful Rogers No.60 pushed Australia to the lowest, Barty was assisted by ten places to overcome the 86- minute victory.
Under the closed roof of Margaret Court Arena, Barty failed to serve the first set at 5-3 but managed to get back to claim a service break in the final game of the opening frame.
After winning a long game to keep it going for 2-2, Rogers went on a run, using thunderous results to reach five straight games and claim the second set. But Barty gathered again, mixing powerful servers and going on with devilish dropshots to make it easier through the tie-game for the win.
A year later, Muguruza overtakes Kenin
Garbiñe Muguruza won some revenge Down Under.
In a rematch of last year’s Australian Open final, Spain’s No.6 seeded U.S. No.2 seed Sofia Kenin, 6-2, 6-2, to earn her place in the semifinals Yarra Valley Classic Friday.
Kenin returned three sets in last year’s first-major tournament game to claim its Grand Slam title, but Muguruza refused to let history repeat itself as the former World No.1 went. through the tilt in an hour and 15 minutes.
So Muguruza, a two – time Grand Slam winner, continues her wide run through the Yarra Valley Classic draw, where she only dropped nine games in her first three games.
“It’s always better to know that you’ve played well, I think that gives you joy and energy and I hope it can go well again,” Muguruza said in court in her post – match interview.
Muguruza scored a dozen points in a row to open a 4-2 lead in the first set, then saved a break point at 5-2 before holding on to the opener. The 15-year-old Spaniard shook up just four non-critical errors in the first set, turning their two break points.
Kenin finally grabbed its first service break to reach 2-2 in the second set, but Muguruza was unhappy and picked up four games later to reach the win and reach the semifinals, where be against seed No.8 Marketa Vondrousova.
The Czechs defeated No.14 seed Nadia Podoroska in a game break, 4-6, 6-3, [10-4], to reach its first semifinal from Internazionali BNL d’Italia last year in Rome