Barty is on a roll

Australian steamrolls past Ostapenko to reach final

WUHAN: Ashleigh Barty of Australia reached her biggest WTA final when she beat French Open champion Jelena Ostapenko 6-3, 6-0 at the Wuhan Open.

Barty will play Caroline Garcia in the final today after the Frenchwoman beat qualifier Maria Sakkari of Greece 6-3, 6-2 in the other semi-final.

Ostapenko, the last surviving seed at No. 8, appeared tired. Her previous three matches, including a win over top-ranked Garbine Muguruza on Thursday, all went three sets.

But Barty’s three previous matches went the distance, too, plus she reached the semi-finals in doubles.

Barty took command of their match with a break for 4-2. When she served out for the set, it began a run of seven straight games to finish the match and her third win over a top-10 player this week.

Unable to get going, Ostapenko complained to her coach and asked for treatment from a trainer. Neither helped the Latvian.

Garcia was hardly threatened by Sakkari, who was more tentative than she had been all week in her first WTA semi-final.

Garcia has reached her first final of the year, and will play for her fourth career title.

“It feels good,; it was long time without a final but a lot happened this year,” Garcia said.

She has never met Barty, who won her first career title in March in Kuala Lumpur.

TASHKENT (Uzbekistan):

Former world No. 2 Vera Zvonareva fell short in her bid to make a second successive WTA final on her comeback to professional tennis, retiring against Kateryna Bondarenko (pic) in the Tashkent Open semi-finals yesterday.

Bondarenko was leading 7-6 (9-7), 4-1 when Zvonareva retired. The cause wasn’t immediately clear.

Zvonareva, a former Wimbledon and US Open finalist, returned to the pro circuit this year after two years away due to injuries and motherhood. She reached the final of the Dalian Open this month in her first WTA main draw appearance since returning.

Bondarenko will play Timea Babos for the Tashkent title after the Hungarian beat Aryna Sabalenka of Belarus 6-1, 6-4.

— AFP What a waste: Jelena Ostapenko of Latvia reacting after losing a point against Ashleigh Barty of Australia during their semi-finals match at the Wuhan Open yesterday.