Top seed Ashleigh Barty rallied from a set down to beat Danielle Collins 3-6 6-1 7-6 (7-5) after 1 hour and 55 minutes advancing to the final of the WTA Premier Tournament in Adelaide.
Barty has qualified fo a final in the second week of the year for the third consecutive year after losing in two consecutive editions of the Sydney tournament to Angelique Kerber in 2018 and to Petra Kvitova in 2019.
Collins got an early break in the fourth game to take a 3-0 lead. Barty earned a chance to break back when she held a 0-40 lead on Collins’ serve in the seventh game, but Collins won five consecutive points to hold on her serve.
Barty broke serve twice to race out to a 5-0 lead. Collins saved two break points to hold her serve at deuce avoiding a bagel. Barty sealed a one-sided second set at 15 in the seventh game.
Both players traded breaks in the seventh and eighth games of the third set, which did not feature a deuce game. Barty hit a return winner to take a 4-3 lead. Collins broke straight back in the next game. They held their service games setting up a tie-break. Collins saved the first match point with a return winner, but Barty sealed the win on her second match point with a slice.
“It was my first taste this year of some adrenaline late in matches. That is what we are after, to try and practice those things as best we can. I felt like I did what I wanted to do well tonight and got over the line”,said Barty.
Yastremska beats Sabalenka in straight sets
Barty set up a final against Ukrainian teenager Dayana Yastremska, who beat Aryna Sabalenka 6-4 7-6 (7-4) after 1 hour and 44 minutes. Yastremska has reached her fourth WTA final and her first at WTA Premier level in Adelaide. Yastremska beat Sabalenka for the third time in her three head-to-head matches.
Yastremska dropped her serve once, converted two of her eight break point chances and hit 25 winners to 30 unforced errors.
Sabalenka fended off three break point chances in the third game of the opening set before Yastremska earned her first break in the fifth game after a backhand error from Sabalenka. The 19-year-old Ukrainian player consolidated the break with a forehand crosscourt winner. She rallied from 0-30 down in the 10th game to serve out the opening set with an ace after 37 minutes. Yastremska won the first set without facing a break point and won nine winners to nine unforced errors.
Yastremska earned an early break at the start of the second set with a return down the line winner in the first game, and consolidated it with a cross-court backhand. Sabalenka saved a break point, as she was serving at 1-3, before pulling the break back in the next game after a double fault from Yastremska. Both players held their next service games to set up a tie-break. Yastremska raced out to a 4-1 lead with a forehand winner and sealed the win with a service winner on her third match point to book her spot in the biggest final of her career.
Yastremska won three titles in her career, including two in 2019 on two different surfaces at International level in Hong Kong, Thailand Open and Strasbourg. She started the new season with her new coach Sascha Bajin, who previously worked with Seran Williams, Caroline Wozniacki and Naomi Osaka.
“It’s nice. I am very happy. Especially at the beginning of the year I think it brings me some confidence before the Grand Slam. In the second set when I was 3-1 up, I felt a little bit my legs were heavy, and I felt like I got a little bit tired. I lost my focus and then, after Sasha came on court, I got some energy, and I really tried to do what he told me. I think I just fought. That’s it”,said Yastremska.
