DEFENDING CHAMPION ASH BARTY EARNS RETURN TRIP TO MIAMI OPEN FINAL

In her first match at this year's Miami Open, Ash Barty was one point from elimination.

Now she's one win from becoming a repeat champion. The top-ranked Barty returned to the final by beating No. 5-seeded Elina Svitolina 6-3, 6-3 on Thursday.

Barty has gained momentum after starting the tournament by saving a match point against qualifier Kristina Kucova.

That was Barty's first match outside her native Australia since February 2020.

“Whenever you come back from a match point, it's a little bit of a strange feeling,” she said. “You have to be more open with what the possibilities the rest of the tournament could be, and keep going out there and keep fighting, knowing you could have just as easily been out of the tournament.”

Barty, who is assured of retaining her No. 1 ranking next week, will play for the title today against the winner of Thursday night's second semifinal between No. 8 Bianca Andreescu and No. 23 Maria Sakkari.

On the men's side, Hubert Hurkacz of Poland earned his first semifinal berth in a top-level ATP event by rallying past No. 2-seeded Stefanos Tsitsipas 2-6, 6-3, 6-4.

Hurkacz, seeded 26th, has won three in a row when facing a top-five opponent, but he beat Tsitsipas for only the second time in their eight meetings.

“I just try to like keep building my game and improving,” Hurkacz said. “Not all the time are you going to have the results that you want, but if you stay positive and improve your game, the results will eventually come.”

They're coming for Barty after she was locked down for a year in Australia because of the coronavirus pandemic, which forced the cancellation of the 2020 Miami Open. Barty won the event in 2019, and said her run to that title was different from this year's matches in Miami.

“Chalk and cheese,” the Aussie said. “The conditions have been different here this week. It has been a lot warmer and physically very demanding.”