Barty holds off Kvitova, Badosa upsets Bencic again
NO.1 seed Ashleigh Barty underlined her dominance of the Tour with a 6-1, 3-6, 6-3 defeat of No.9 seed Petra Kvitova in one hour and 48 minutes to reach her first Mutua Madrid Open semi-final late on Tuesday.
There, she will face a rematch against the only player to have beaten her since February - wildcard Paula Badosa, who became the first Spanish woman to reach the last four in Madrid with a 6-4, - upset of No.8 seed Belinda Bencic.
Barty’s reign is borne out in the numbers. The Australian has extended her winning streaks on red clay to 1 , and against Top 20 opponents to 10. Her season record is 243, and she has won five of her past six meetings with Kvitova to tie their overall head-tohead at - .
Moreover, Barty has also now won 11 of the 12 threesetters she has played in 2021.
“It’s just always staying in the fight,” said Barty about her record in deciding sets. “Always staying in the hunt and never letting it slide away. That certainly doesn’t guarantee results, doesn’t guarantee success. It guarantees you give yourself the best chance to do what you do and to figure it out and to find your way.
“I think it’s important not to panic, but everyone emotionally has different ways that they play on the court. I have always been quite calm on the court. That’s just always been my demeanor. But for me, it’s more about just trusting myself and knowing that we just
Paula Badosa celebrates beating Belinda Bencic.
keep chipping away and trying to find a way - and then give yourself time to do that.”
Among active players, only Serena Williams and Sara Errani have compiled longer streaks on red clay. Serena won 32 matches in a row on it between 2013-14, as well as 1 in a row in 2002-03, while in 2012 Errani captured 16 straight. Today’s result pushes Barty ahead of the 14-match career-best streaks set by Venus Williams in 2004 and Simona Halep in 2018-19.
By contrast, Kvitova has now lost nine of her last 10, and 1 of her last 20, matches against Top 10 opponents. Indeed, Barty is the only player in that echelon whom the Czech has defeated since 2019, in the 2020 Doha semifinals.
“Petra and I, we respect each other as tennis players,” said Barty. “And I respect her immensely as a person. I love who she is as a person, and on the court it’s more than just about the result. I think we love to compete, we love to test each other, we love to test ourselves.
“I think that brings in a really healthy kind of competition and relationship on the court that at the end of the day the result doesn’t always matter. I think being able to enjoy it and have a smile on your face is a massive part of why I feel the tennis is always a really good level.”