In the women’s draw Ashleigh Barty will take on Paula Badosa in the semi-finals after beating Petra Kvitova 6-1, 3-6, 6-3 on Wednesday. World number one Barty is chasing her fourth singles title of the year after her triumph in Stuttgart 10 days ago. In the last four she faces the woman who knocked her out in the quarter-finals in Charleston in early April.
On Wednesday, the Australian came out on top against two-time Wimbledon champion Kvitova, winner of the Madrid tournament in 2011, 2015 and 2018. The match appeared settled when Barty surged 3-0 ahead in the deciding set. Kvitova broke back in game five to close to 3-2. But, after saving two break points, she lost her serve for a second time in the set in game six. Barty then saved three break points on her way to going 5-2 up and held again two games later to see out the match. Wildcard Badosa became the first Spanish woman in the tournament’s 12-year history to make the semis with her 6-4, 7-5 win over eighth seed Belinda Bencic.
The 23-year-old’s win over the world number 11 was her third against a player in the top 20 following her victories over Bencic and Barty in her run to the semi-finals in Charleston Badosa kissed the clay court in celebration of a win that will shoot the world number 62 up the WTA rankings. Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova defeated Karolina Muchova 7-6 (7/4), 7-6 (7/2) and awaits Aryna Sabalenka or Elise Mertens for a spot in the final.