World No.1 Ashleigh Barty qualified for the Qatar Total Open semifinal following her victory over two-time Grand Slam champion Garbine Muguruza, 6-1, 6-7(4), 6-2 on Thursday.

Barty ran through the opening set without facing a breakpoint, dropping just one game as a third semifinal of the season looked well and truly in sight, wtatennis.com reported.

Muguruza, who reunited with former coach Conchita Martinez at the end of last year, found better consistency in the second set, breaking first and twice getting within two points of a deciding set. Both times, the Aussie held firm and forced a tie-break.

From there, the former World No.1 took control against the top seed, taking a swift 5-0 lead and shook off a late surge to level the match on her second set point.

Barty fended off a breakpoint in the first game of the final set, and emerged from a trio of successive service breaks to take a 5-2 lead. Reversing a 40-15 deficit in the last game, she earned a match point after forcing a Muguruza backhand into the net, and showed off solid defense as one last forehand went wide from the Spaniard.

Up next for the top seed is Kvitova, whom she's beaten in their last four meetings - most recently in Melbourne, where Barty avenged a 2019 Australian Open quarterfinal defeat to win in straight sets.

Source: QNA

Photo source: WTA Tennis

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Binu Cherian

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