Ash Barty is again looking every inch the world No.1 after repelling a familiar battling effort from Angelique Kerber to power into the final of the Cincinnati Open.
The Australian overcame a blip in concentration early in the second set to recover her magisterial form in another early start on Saturday and then roared to a 6-2 7-5 victory in just under an hour and a quarter.
“I feel like I’m playing well at the moment,” said a delighted Barty, who really does seem to possess the precision and clear thinking at the moment that puts her a cut above her opponents.
“We have been able to execute game plans well. I feel like I’m moving well, and I’ve got control of the ball. That’s all I can ask of myself.”
In a reprise of their Wimbledon semi-final last month when Barty also came out on top in straight sets, the Queenslander soon seemed to have a measure of control in this sixth meeting with 33-year-old Kerber as she raced through the first set in 27 minutes.
She’d reeled off six straight games when Germany’s three-time grand slam winner, who’d begun to seem a little deflated, showed her steel and finally took advantage of a seeming dip in Barty’s form and concentration levels to break her twice.
The Wimbledon champ, though, regained her equilibrium and struck for her crucial fifth break of Kerber’s delivery in the 12th game to make it into her sixth final of the season without so far having dropped a set all week.
The Aussie will on Sunday now shoot for a fifth title of what she calls her “grand adventure” of a season against either Swiss Jil Teichmann or Czech Karolina Pliskova, her opponent in the Wimbledon final, in Cincinnati.
“It’s never, ever a walk in the park against Angie, she’s an exceptional competitor and I think early on in that second set she lifted and went into another gear and it took me a few games to go with her,” said Barty, who took her head to head record against the 33-year-old to 4-2 in her favour.
“In the two games I got broken, she just saw too many second serves and was able to be assertive. So I’m really happy to get through, and to be playing for a title here in Cincinnati is awesome.”
Barty’s form, after the disappointment of her first round defeat at the Tokyo Olympics, has resembled her fairly clinical domination at Wimbledon as she hammered another 29 winners and 12 aces against Kerber.
She’s now won 15 of her last 16 tour matches and this was her 39th WTA win this year – a tour-leading figure – which left Kerber reflecting: “She has so much confidence right now. She plays so well, served good and this is also a big weapon from her.
“She’s just playing really like tricky, as well. She knows where to put the ball and how to play in the moments where it’s really important. You know, that’s why she’s where she is.”
AAP
