Ashleigh Barty marched into her sixth semi-final of the season Thursday, describing her victory over Petra Martic in Wuhan as one of the best matches she’s played in recent times.
The world number one impressed in a highly-entertaining quarter-final that saw her fire 39 winners en route to a 7-6 (8/6), 3-6, 6-3 win against Martic.
Barty now gets a shot at revenge when she takes on powerful Belarusian Aryna Sabalenka on Friday in a rematch of their Wuhan semi-final last year.
Against Martic, Barty fell behind early in the first and third sets, but retaliated with some creative shot-making to reach the last four for a third year in a row.
“I think that was a very, very high-quality match. I think that was probably one of the better matches that I’ve played in recent times,” said the reigning French Open champion.
“It could have gone either way. I was happy how I was able to fight in the end, put a lot of pressure on her in a lot of those service games in the third.”
Martic, the world number 22 from Croatia, had not lost a three-setter since March, but saw her streak of 16 on the trot snapped by the relentless Barty.
{{/usCountry}}Martic, the world number 22 from Croatia, had not lost a three-setter since March, but saw her streak of 16 on the trot snapped by the relentless Barty.
{{/usCountry}}“She’s one of the best movers on the tour,” Barty said of Martic. “That (streak) doesn’t surprise me.”
Sabalenka, the defending champion and seeded nine this week, overcame a second-set dip to halt the inspired run of Kazakh wildcard Elena Rybakina 6-3, 1-6, 6-1 on Thursday.
The 21-year-old is tied at 2-2 head-to-head with Barty.
Sabalenka improved her strong career record on Chinese courts to 27 wins against just six losses -- including 10 victories in a row in Wuhan.