Ashleigh Barty holds off Petra Kvitova to reach Miami Open semis

WTA Tour
Ashleigh Barty in action

Ashleigh Barty claimed her first-ever win over Petra Kvitova to book her place in the Miami Open semi-final, a result that will see her climb into the world top 10 for the first time.

The Australian came into the match with a 0-4 head-to-head against Kvitova, but she got onto the board with a 7-6 (8-6), 3-6, 6-2 win in two hours and 32 minutes.

“I knew I had to take her serve away from her as much as possible,” Barty, who came into the tournament as the world No 11, said. “I knew if I could get into a lot of her service games, I could back myself in on serve.

“I knew exactly how I wanted to play the match, I just needed to get it back on my racket as much as possible. Petra can take it away from you very quickly, so it was about getting into those first few points.”

Barty will face Anett Kontaveit for a place in the final after the Estonian ended Hsieh Su-wei’s run.

The 27th seed from Chinese Taipei had beaten world No 1 Naomi Osaka and Caroline Wozniacki en route to the quarter-final, but Kontaveit came from a set down to win 3-6, 6-2, 7-5.

“Today probably wasn’t the best match that I have ever played but I’m so happy to be through that,” Kontaveit said. “I feel like I fought really well and I never gave up.

“I’m really, really happy with the improvements I’m making and being more positive with myself, whatever the score is, and all these little things that are getting better.”

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