Ash Barty is into the quarter-finals of the Madrid Open after beating her French Open successor Iga Świątek in a 7-5, 6-4 claycourt clash in the Spanish capital.
The world number one rallied from a slow start and relied on her serve to beat the talented Polish teenager in one hour and 41 minutes.
It was the first time Barty had played Świątek, and it took her a while to come to grips with her opponent's game.
Barty went down 0-3 in the opening set but she hit back, breaking Świątek twice to take the first set, and was rarely troubled after that.
She improved her first serve in percentage from 45.7 to 64.5 in the second set, and gradually took control.
Barty also continued to show her composure in big points, saving six of seven break points against her for the match, and converting all three of her own opportunities.
With the win, Barty also improved her 2021 record against top 20 players to 9-0.
Her winning streak on red clay improved to 14 matches, dating back to the French Open in 2019.
Her successes in Madrid follow her run to the title in Stuttgart late last month, where she beat three top 10 players on the way to her 11th career singles title.
She now advances to a quarter-final meeting with number nine seed Petra Kvitová — Barty reached the same stage of the tournament the last time she played here in 2019.
Kvitova advanced past Russian Veronika Kudermetova 6-3, 4-6, 6-4.
Barty's main rival for the number one world ranking, Naomi Osaka, was beaten by Czech player Karolína Muchová 6-4, 3-6, 6-1 yesterday in the round of 32.
AAP/ABC
