
World No.1 Ashleigh Barty faced a tremendous challenge on Wednesday at the Madrid Open, but was able to overcome Petra Kvitova to advance to the semifinals.
The top seed required an hour and 48 minutes to pull off the 6-1 3-6 6-3 victory, extending her winning streak on red clay to 15 consecutive matches. Furthermore, she has won her last 10 matches against Top 20 opponents, and is 11-1 in three-set matches played in 2021.
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"It's just always staying in the fight," said Barty about her record in deciding sets. "Always staying in the hunt and never letting it slide away. That certainly doesn't guarantee results, doesn't guarantee success. It guarantees you give yourself the best chance to do what you do and to figure it out and to find your way."
The 2019 Roland Garros champion is 24-3 this season, and is third on the list of active players with winning streaks on red clay, behind Sara Errani (16, 2013) and Serena Williams (32, 2013-2014).
"I think it's important not to panic, but everyone emotionally has different ways that they play on the court," revealed Barty. "I have always been quite calm on the court. That's just always been my demeanor. But for me, it's more about just trusting myself and knowing that we just keep chipping away and trying to find a way - and then give yourself time to do that."
The Aussie will face Paula Badosa in the semifinals, with the Spaniard upsetting eighth seed Belinda Bencic in their quarterfinal match. Barty will be looking to avenge her loss to the World No.62, as Badosa prevailed 6-4 6-3 in their quarterfinal encounter at Charleston earlier this year.
Growing up in a household where soccer was king, my earliest memories are filled with chants from packed stadiums and the rhythm of a ball being passed across neighborhood streets. But somewhere along the way, the quiet elegance and raw emotion of tennis pulled me in. What began as a curiosity became a lifelong passion; not just for the sport itself, but for the stories it tells: of grit, of heartbreak, of improbable comebacks and human resilience.
As a tennis writer, I bring the observational lens of someone who didn’t grow up in the sport, but fell in love with it as an outsider; a perspective that lets me see both its technical beauty and its emotional depth. Over the years working with TennisUpToDate, I’ve had the privilege of reaching more than 3.5 million readers worldwide, with one of my features ranking among the site’s top three articles.
With a background in storytelling and a creative mind always searching for meaning beyond the scoreboard, I aim to craft narratives that go deeper than results and rankings. Whether it’s a rising star breaking through or a veteran fighting off Father Time, I try to capture the heartbeat behind the headlines.
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