Tennis news - Ashleigh Barty battles past Elina Svitolina into Miami Open final
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Updated 02/04/2021 at 07:52 GMT
Ash Barty is still on course to defend her Miami Open title after beating fifth seed Elina Svitolina in straight sets. The Australian seemed to pick up an abdominal injury of some kind during the first set but it made no difference to the result. Barty will face Bianca Andreescu in the final after the Canadian beat Maria Sakkari 7-6(7), 3-6, 7-6(4).
Ash Barty
Image credit: Getty Images
Top seed and world No 1 Ash Barty battled through injury in the heat to reach the final of the Miami Open, beating Elina Svitolina 6-3, 6-3.
The 24-year-old had only won one of her previous six matches against the Ukrainian, but showed no signs of apprehension.
"It wasn't easy today, not by any means," she said on court afterwards. "I felt like I wanted to come out here and be aggressive, and I was able to execute it.
Elina is an exceptional competitor. She'll never give you a free point no matter what the score is. I know I have to bring my best and I was able to do that today."
The Australian went off court after the first set for medical treatment, with the cause thought to be an abdominal injury. But she did not allow it to affect her game too much as she powered past the fifth seed in an hour and a half.
Barty will face Bianca Andreescu in the final as she looks to defend the title she won in 2019.
"I have so many good memories playing here," she added. "I'm very grateful to have another opportunity to play for the title."
Andreescu edges past Sakkari in 1:35am finish
Andreescu is into her first final since winning the 2019 US Open with a 7-6(7), 3-6, 7-6(4) victory over Maria Sakkari in two hours and 42 minutes.
Andreescu took a convincing 4-1 lead in the opening set before the number 23 seed fought back with three games in a row to make it 4-4. The pair stayed on serve until a tie-break which eventually Andreescu sealed with a blistering backhand down the line.
Momentum looked to be with Andreescu as she raced to a 3-1 lead in the second set, but the Greek responded with her trademark physical brand of tennis from the baseline and won five straight games to force a decider.
Sakkari's 4-2 lead in the third quickly turned into a 5-4 deficit and they headed for another tie-break. Andreescu finished it off on her third match point after building a 6-2 lead.
"Against her, I had no choice but to run for everything that I could and just fight until the end because that's what she was doing," Andreescu said on-court after the match.
"She was really taking control of the points a lot of the times. It was really tough, I'm not going to lie.
"My whole game plan was to try and do that because I knew she was going to do that, and it could've been either of us winning. I'm just super happy that I pulled through."
"I've wanted to play her [Barty] for a long time now, so I'm super excited for that," Andreescu said ahead of her first meeting against a reigning world number one.
"I know it's going to be a really tough match, but I'm really looking forward to it."
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