WTA Adelaide International: Semi-finals – Barty books finals spot against teenage sensation
UKRAINIAN teenage sensation, Dayana Yastremska has booked a spot in the Adelaide International final, downing sixth seed Aryna Sabalenka for the right to play the world’s best player in the decider. Yastremska won 6-4 7-6 over Sabalenka and now has to face Australia’s Ash Barty who just got past giant-killer Danielle Collins who has had a superb tournament to-date. Barty came from a set down to win 3-6 6-1 7-6, but the Aussie was even down in the tiebreaker before bouncing back to win and make it through to the final match of the tournament.
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In Yastremska’s win, she was prolific on serve, winning 79.5 per cent of her first serve points and holding half of her second serve points despite only putting 52 per cent of her first serves in court. The 19-year-old broke Sabalenka twice in the match from eight opportunities, whilst only being broken once – in the second set – from two chances. She did well off the Sabalenka serve with more than half of her opponent’s second serves going her way, as well as 32.7 per cent of her first serves. She will still want to clean up her first serve percentage against Barty, putting up six double faults in the game compared to her five aces.
In the prime time match, it was Barty who continued her okay form without completely standing out, overcoming a plucky Collins in just under two hours. Barty served 14 aces during the match, winning 79.6 per cent of her first serve points to be a real problem for the American, while creating eight break point opportunities, taking five of them. Collins also broke the world number one twice from only three chances, but her first serve let her down with three double faults for two aces, and a 65.4 per cent first serve points won with her 59.1 per cent first serve percentage. It was a great tournament for Collins who will have plenty of confidence going into the Australian Open, while Barty will be looking to fine-tune her performance in the final later today.
Barty will start favourite in the final to begin from 4.30pm today in Adelaide with the 23-year-old eyeing off her eighth career title. Yastremska might only be 19, but she already has three titles, winning at Hua Hin and Strasbourg last year after triumphing at Hong Kong in 2018.
Semi-finals results:
Dayana Yastremska (UKR) defeated [6] Aryna Sabalenka (BLR) 6-4 7-6
[1] Ash Barty (AUS) defeated Danielle Collins (USA) 3-6 6-1 7-6
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