Ashleigh Barty and Anett Kontaveit won the first set of women’s singles quarterfinals at the Miami Open, setting up a semifinal meeting in the top half of the draw.
For the first time in five attempts, Australia’s Barty succeeded in beating Petra Kvitova, and the victory happened just hours after the Czech’s attacker from the 2016 violent home robbery was sentenced to eight years in jail. The 7-6(6) 3-6 6-2 defeat ended Kvitova’s hopes of overtaking Naomi Osaka at the top of the WTA rankings, as the Czech needed to reach the final to have a chance of occupying the No.1 position for the first time in her career.
The twelfth-seeded Barty will play seed No.21 Anett Kontaveit in the semifinals, after the Estonian overcame a 4-0 deficit in the third set to see off Taiwan’s Hsieh Su-wei 3-6 6-2 7-5 and reach the biggest semifinal of her career.
Hsieh was also in action in doubles, partnered with Barbie-celebrating Barbora Strycova, and it was a loss as well, at the hands of Elise Mertens and Aryna Sabalenka in the second round.
Our Jimmie48 attended both Tuesday’s quarterfinals and the mentioned doubles match. Enjoy!
MORE MIAMI OPEN 2019 PHOTOS:
- Monday: Halep beats Venus, injury ends Andreescu’s run
- Sunday: Halep & Venus book fourth-round clash
- Saturday: Osaka knocked out, Andreescu keeps winning
- Friday: Osaka & Halep progress, Svitolina upset in the second round
- Thursday: Key, Azarenka out in the second round, Bajin spotted in Mladenovic’s box
- Wednesday: Ribbon-cutting ceremony with Osaka & Serena
I have really mixed fillings about Kvitova, sad she lost, but happy she finally got some justice!
Happy for Ash – it’s a shame she had to play Petra, the two are such nice ladies and seem to be great friends.
And you didn’t mention! Ash will now reach the top 10! Finally an Aussie back in 🙂
She’s worked so hard for it, very proud
Sad Hsieh Su-wei did not close it out and continue her run. I think she was crying as she walked off the court with a towel over her head. Happy for Kontaveit though, she is a tough little competitor.