Australia’s Ashleigh Barty edged past Petra Kvitova 7-6 (8-6) 3-6 6-2 after two hours and 32 minutes in a late night match in the Miami quarter final claiming her first win of her career over her Czech player after losing her previous four head-to-head matches.
Kvitova beat her younger Australian rival in their previous two matches played this year in the three-set final in Sydney and in the the Australian Open quarter final last January.
Nothing could separate both players from the start of the match. Barty saved two break points in the first game. Kvitova earned the first break in the fifth game to take a 3-2 lead.
Barty broke straight back in the next game, as Kvitova made a backhand error in the sixth game. The Czech player saved a set point at 5-6 to set up a tie-break. Kvitova took a 5-2 lead. Barty fended off a set point at 5-6 and reeled off the final three points to win the tie-break 8-6 when Kvitova netted a forehand.
Kvitova went up a double break to open up a 4-2 lead in the second set when Barty netted a backhand. Kvitova forced an error from Barty and served out the second set at 30 in the ninth game sending the match to the third set.
Barty got an early break in the second game of the third set with a lob winner. Kvitova broke back after a double fault from Barty in the fifth game. Barty broke serve at 15 in the sixth game after a forehand error from Kvitova. The Australian player won 12 of the final 13 points to seal the third set with a break of serve at love.
“It was important for me for me to try and take Petra’s serve away from her as much as possible. She has got an absolute world-class serve. At times It was still out of my control, but I tried to do the best I could and get into as many service games as I could, and I thought I did that really well tonight”,said Kvitova.
Barty has improved her seasonal record to 16-3 this year and has confirmed her rise to the top 10 for the first time in her career.
“It feels bloody good. It’s been a goal of mine for a long time now. That’s no secret. It’s amazing what happens when you put your hopes and dreams out into the universe and do the work. I had an opportunity last week that I was not able to grab, and this week was about coming here and continuing to try and trust the process and enjoy the journey that I am on. It’s a pretty beautiful thing being able to play tennis for a living”, said Barty.
In the semifinal Barty will play her first head-to-head match against Anett Kontaveit, who beat Hsieh Su-Wei 3-6 6-2 7-5.
