MADRID, 25 One. (EUROPA PRESS) –
The Australian Ashleigh Barty and the American Madison Keys will meet in the semifinals of the Australian Open, the first ‘Grand Slam’ of the season, after beating the American Jessica Pegula (6-2, 6-0) and the Czech Barbora Krejcikova (6-3, 6-2), respectively.
Barty, number one in the world, found little opposition in the North American tennis player, unable to break his rival’s service throughout the match and who only had one opportunity to break. The oceanic, who is looking for her first title in Melbourne after being a semifinalist also in 2020, used two breaks in the first and seventh games to win the first set.
In the second, she endorsed her opponent with a ‘donut’ and closed the contest in just over an hour of play, to meet a Keys who had already beaten Krejcikova, number four in the world, also with relative solvency.
Keys, number 51 in the WTA ranking and a great sensation in the ocean tournament, survived the six break balls to which the Czech tennis player subjected her before breaking her serve in the sixth game, which was enough to win the set.
Already in the second round, she went ahead 3-0, and although Krejcikova responded with a ‘counterabreak’, she got a new break with which she put her victory on track, resolved in one hour and 25 minutes and which makes her a semifinalist in Australia for the second time. time (2015 and 2022).