THE only two Adelaide International champions will do battle in the semi-final of the 2022 tournament, when world number one Ash Barty comes up against Poland’s Iga Swiatek. Both are Grand Slam winners and overcame their respective Grand Slam-winning opponents in Sofia Kenin and Victoria Azarenka. Whilst Barty won in straight sets over Kenin 6-3 6-4, Swiatek had a real fight on her hands against Azarenka, needing three sets to get it done, defeating the Belarusian 6-3 2-6 6-1.

In a tight contest, Swiatek hit 27 inners to Azarenka’s 22, and 28 unforced errors to 26, where the teams were evenly split. As the match went on, Azarenka got progressively sorer and could not compete with a red-hot Swiatek who ran away with the final set.

“Winning against such an experienced player is still pretty new for me,” Swiatek said post-match. “That was my third match where I actually could show what I practiced during pre-season. That’s really satisfying because I had this problem last year where I was practicing really great and I felt like I could do more on matches. This time it’s different. It’s actually going my way, so I’m pretty happy about that.

“Basically my main tactic was the same as in previous match: I want to be the first one to attack and to play that faster ball that’s going to give me opportunity to go forward. Basically I did that pretty well.”

Meanwhile in the men’s Thanasi Kokkinakis remained alive with a three set win over Mikael Ymer to join the top three players in the semi-finals. It was a similar story in the Melbourne first Summer Set for the women’s with the top three ranked players – Naomi Osaka, Simona Halep and Veronika Kudermetova – joining Chinese power qualifier, teenager Qinwen Zheng in the last four. Here are all the quarter finals results from yesterday.

ADELAIDE INTERNATIONAL

WTA 500:

[1] Ash Barty (AUS) defeated [6] Sofia Kenin (USA) 6-3 6-4
[5] Iga Swiatek (POL) defeated Victoria Azarenka (BLR) 6-3 2-6 6-1
[7] Elena Rybakina (KAZ) defeated Shelby Rogers (USA) 3-6 6-3 6-2
Misaki Doi (JPN) defeated Kaja Juvan (SVK) 6-3 4-6 7-6

ATP 250:

[1] Gael Monfils (FRA) defeated Tommy Paul (USA) 6-4 6-1
[2] Karen Khachanov (RUS) defeated [Q] Egor Gerasimov (BLR) 7-5 6-3
[3] Marin Cilic (CRO) defeated [7] Laslo Djere (SRB) 6-3 6-2
[WC] Thanasi Kokkinakis (AUS) defeated Mikael Ymer (SWE) 7-6 4-6 6-4

MATCHES TO WATCH TODAY: SEMI-FINALS

[1] Ash Barty (AUS) vs. [5] Iga Swiatek (POL)
[1] Gael Monfils (FRA) vs. [WC] Thanasi Kokkinakis (AUS)
[2] Karen Khachanov (RUS) vs. [3] Marin Cilic (CRO)
[7] Elena Rybakina (KAZ) vs. Misaki Doi (JPN)

MELBOURNE SUMMER SET

WTA 250 (1):

[1] Naomi Osaka (JPN) defeated Andreja Petrovic (GER) 6-1 7-5
[2] Simona Halep (ROU) defeated [6] Viktorija Golubic (SUI) 6-2 5-7 6-4
[3] Veronika Kudermetova (RUS) defeated 6-2 4-6 6-0
[Q] Qinwen Zheng (CHN) defeated Ana Konjuh (CRO) 7-6 7-6

WTA 250 (2):

[3] Daria Kasatkina (RUS) defeated Nuria Parrizas Diaz (ESP) 7-5 6-1
Aliaksandra Sasnovich (BLR) defeated [6] Clara Tauson (DEN) 6-3 2-0
[7] Ann Li (USA) defeated Kamilla Rakhimova (RUS) 6-1 7-5
Amanda Anisimova (USA) defeated Irina-Camelia Begu (ROU) 2-6 6-3 6-2

ATP 250:

[1] Rafael Nadal (ESP) defeated Tallon Griekspoor (NED) W/O
[3] Grigor Dimitrov (BUL) defeated Botic Van de Zandschulp (NED) 6-7 6-0 7-5
[Q] Maxime Cressy (USA) defeated Jaume Munar (ESP) 7-6 6-4
Emil Ruusuvuori (FIN) defeated Alex Molcan (SVK) 6-2 6-1

MATCHES TO WATCH TODAY: SEMI-FINALS

[1] Rafael Nadal (ESP) vs. Emil Ruusuvuori (FIN)
[1] Naomi Osaka (JPN) vs. [3] Veronika Kudermetova (RUS)
[2] Simona Halep (ROU) vs. [Q] Qinwen Zheng (CHN)
[3] Grigor Dimitrov (BUL) vs. [Q] Maxime Cressy (USA)
[3] Daria Kasatkina (RUS) vs. Amanda Anisimova (USA)
[7] Ann Li (USA) vs. Aliaksandra Sasnovich (BLR)