Barty Dominant Again At Australian Open, Keys Next; Swiatek Seeks SF

Ash Barty has a surprisingly easy night thumping American Jessica Pegula 6-2, 6-0 in just 63 minutes to reach her second Australian Open semifinal.

The Australian favorite is now just two sets from a first Slam title in her homeland. She’s lost just 17 games in her five matches thus far.

“I’m just having fun, to be honest,” said Barty. “I’m having fun trying to problem solve out on the court, and each and every opponent has been different. Each and every opponent has presented me with a different challenge and forced me to use another tool in my toolbox.

“I have been able to execute, which is sometimes important – you can have all the right ideas but you need to be able to do it under the pump. I’ve been able to do that this week, which has been really exciting.”

Pegula, who was back in her second straight quarterfinal in Melbourne, had no answers for Barty.

“You feel pretty helpless,” she said. “Hr game just picks you apart. She has so many intangible things she does well that I think if you let her get in that rhythm, then it can kind of run away.

“I think we’ve seen her do that to a lot of people. Unfortunately I was a victim tonight to that.”

Barty will face a third straight American on Thursday in Madison Keys. The resurgent 26-year-old returned to the Australian Open semifinals with a strong 6-3, 6-2 win over French Open champion Barbora Krejcikova in the early afternoon heat.

Keys reaches her first Slam semifinal since the 2018 US Open and her first in Australian in seven years.

“I think I played a pretty solid match today,” Keys said. “Just so happy to be back in the semifinals here for the first time in a long time.

“I think the biggest key is just being able to reel it back in and then refocus very quickly and catching yourself. I think that’s the thing that I’ve been just really focusing on the most, is acknowledging when I’m either not playing the right way, getting ahead of myself, anything, just stopping it once it’s a point or two or a game, versus all of a sudden you look up and it’s been three or four games.”

Keys will now try to reach her second Slam final.

“I have gone into every match thinking I can absolutely win any match that I’m out on the court,” Keys said. “I will say it’s been kind of nice to be the underdog for the first time in a long time. It’s really just not even in my head about winning and losing. It’s really just going out, competing, trying to do what the game plan is.”

Barty beat Keys (and Anisimova and Pegula) en route to her maiden French title.

“”Maddie is an exceptional athlete,” said Barty. “She has a great serve, great first strike off the return and off her first ball after her serve. A lot of the time it’s about trying to put her in an uncomfortable position, try and get her off-balance, because if she controls the centre of the court, the match is on her racquet.”

Tonight, the last two semifinals will be contested. Iga Swiatek takes on Kaia Kanepi and Danielle Collins collides with Alize Cornet. Kanepi and Cornet are both trying to reach a first Slam semifinal.

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