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World No. 1 Ashleigh Barty came out on top in a high-quality quarterfinal clash with Petra Kvitova on Friday in Beijing, prevailing, 4-6, 6-4, 6-3, at the China Open. With the victory, Barty secured her seventh successive win in a match going three sets and improved to 2-2 against the Czech this season.

Kvitova aggressively controlled the first set on her terms. The No. 7 seed scorched a backhand return winner to break Barty in the fifth game and continued to time her shots well on the China Open’s Diamond Court.

Barty’s coach Craig Tyzzer pushed his student to increase depth to the forehand side, get the serve to Kvitova’s body more often and “accept” the fact that her opponent will crush the ball past her from time to time.

Barty battles back to edge Kvitova for Beijing semifinal spot

Barty battles back to edge Kvitova for Beijing semifinal spot

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The French Open champion worked to implement those suggestions early in the second set, and after managing to stay with the left-hander by erasing five break points, Barty imposed her game to level the encounter.

The two traded breaks to begin the decider and tension built as the set went on. Barty raised her level on serve and her steady backhand slice paid dividends. She broke Kvitova to move ahead 5-3 before locking up the win in two hours and eight minutes. Both finished with a positive winners to unforced errors ratio: Barty at +11 (31 to 20) and Kvitova +8 (36 to 28).

Barty, who currently leads the Porsche Race to Shenzhen leaderboard, is seeking her fourth title of 2019. She has picked up trophies on three different surfaces with her triumphs in Miami (hard), Roland Garros (clay) and Birmingham (grass). In the last four, Barty will face eighth-ranked Kiki Bertens. The Dutchwoman eliminated 2018 WTA Finals champion Elina Svitolina, 7-6 (6), 6-2.

Bertens improved to 48-21 on the season and is through to her first semifinal since contesting the Palermo final on clay in July. The 27-year-old is bidding to win her third title of the year, having tasted victory in St. Petersburg and Madrid. She is 0-3 in tour-level matches against Barty, which includes hard-court defeats this season in Sydney and Miami.

Barty battles back to edge Kvitova for Beijing semifinal spot

Barty battles back to edge Kvitova for Beijing semifinal spot