Kevin Mitchell's report
Match report
From the Press Association:
Petra Kvitova ended hopes of a home singles champion at the Australian Open with a crushing victory over Ashleigh Barty in the quarter-finals.
Barty was the first Australian woman to reach the last eight for 10 years and there was optimism she could become the first home winner since Chris O’Neil in 1978, but Kvitova was in devastating form in a 6-1, 6-4 victory. The Czech has not lost more than five games in any of her matches so far and is through to the last four at a slam for the first time since winning her second Wimbledon title in 2014 and a little over two years after fearing she might never play again when she was stabbed in the hand by an intruder at her home.
Kvitova’s victory, meanwhile, ensures Simona Halep will be replaced as world No 1, although Naomi Osaka, Karolina Pliskova and Elina Svitolina are also in the frame.
Kvitova began her on-court interview by apologising to the deflated crowd, saying: “I’m sorry guys. She’s such a nice person and you should be very proud of her. It was a great match definitely. She came back well, she didn’t give me anything for free and I really had to fight until the end.”
The 28-year-old became emotional when asked about the struggles she has been through, choking back tears as she said: “I didn’t really imagine to be back in this great stadium, it’s great.”
Kvitova’s comeback has been one of the sport’s more remarkable stories but her failure to back up impressive form on the WTA Tour at the grand slams last year meant she arrived in Melbourne with little fanfare despite winning the warm-up tournament in Sydney.
In the final a little over a week ago she defeated Barty in a tight tussle decided by a third-set tie-break after the Australian had won the opening set for the loss of only one game. Here it was Kvitova who raced through the opener, her clean power-hitting too much for Barty, who looked to be feeling the weight of expectation upon her shoulders.
The 22-year-old dug in at the start of the second set and began to disrupt Kvitova’s rhythm but chances to break came and went in the opening two games and, when the Czech seized her opportunity at 5-4, the end swiftly followed.
Here’s the Nadal v Tiafoe liveblog. See you there. Bye!
I’ll shortly be switching to a totally new liveblog for the Nadal match. He and Tiafoe have never played before; Stefanos Tsitsipas awaits the winner.
Here’s Pat Cash’s summary on Eurosport of the Kvitova v Barty match. He pretty much nails it: Kvitova was very close to unplayable today.
Full credit to Petra Kvitova – she played unbelievably well. I think Ashleigh Barty threw a whole lot of stuff at her in the second set but once Petra gets going she’s almost unstoppable. She was really going for her shots and they certainly went in today. Everyone in Australia is very proud of Ash and this is a benchmark for her at the Slams – there is definitely more to come.
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Anyway, on with the tennis. Frances Tiafoe and Rafael Nadal are coming onto the court now for their quarter-final.
Kvitova hasn’t dropped a set, and Danielle Collins won’t have seen much today to give her any encouragement ahead of their semi-final.
Kvitova was just phenomenal. It’s worth reading this from a year or so ago if you’re not aware of where those tears came from:
Barty has had a great run, and there will be more to come from her. But Kvitova was a powerhouse tonight. She hit 25 winners to Barty’s eight, which is the only statistic you need. Here’s what she says:
First, I’m sorry guys. I beat Ashleigh. She’s such a nice person and you should be very proud of her. It was a great match. I started better, I served well, I took the first break. In the second she came back, she didn’t give me anything for free and I really had to fight until the end.
When Jim Courier brings up the challenges Kvitova has had to face to return to a Slam semi-final, she gets a bit teary:
I didn’t really imagine being back on this great stadium and playing with the best. It’s great.
She’s asked about Danielle Collins, who she beat in a gruelling three-setter in Brisbane not long ago:
I won it, but it was over three hours. Hopefully it will be less than three hours here. She’s very fearless and she’s been very aggressive. I do remember the match from Sydney. I really need to be better this time. It’s a semi-final so, who cares?
Petra Kvitova beats Ash Barty 6-1, 6-4!
Second set: Kvitova* 6-1, 6-4 Barty At 15-0 Barty comes to the net and for a while the pair exchange shots, Kvitova failing to find the pass and Barty failing to put away a volley, before the Australian dodges out of the way of a ball drive towards her body, which goes on to land long. Kvitova hits an unreturnable serve, but at 30-15 Barty’s mishit loops and spins, lands just in and helps her win the point. 30-30 is a battle but one Kvitova wins, forcing Barty into a desperate defensive backhand that lands midcourt, and we all know what the Czech does with those. Match point, and facing the second serve Barty nets her return and it’s all over!
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Second set: Kvitova 6-1, 5-4 Barty* Kvitova’s shot-making from midcourt really is phenomenal. When she has a ball to put away, she does so with extreme vengeance. Just as Barty had hinted with her sliced backhand at discovering a method of beating Kvitova, the Czech turns on the power to take back control and in the end Kvitova breaks to 15 and will serve for the match!
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Second set: Kvitova* 6-1, 4-4 Barty At 30-15 Barty plays a lovely rally, won in the end with a backhand of vicious slice and spin. Kvitova keeps it in play, but swiftly loses the point. She wins the next couple, though, despite a time warning.
Second set: Kvitova 6-1, 3-4 Barty* Another hold for Barty, wrapped up with an inch-perfect ace that drops on the angle of the T. The two best points in this game both involve Barty drop-shots. The first one Kvitova just reaches, but her attempt to lift the ball over Barty is underpowered and leaves an easy putaway volley. The second Kvitova reaches easily, puts back into play, Barty hits into what looks an empty court only for the Czech to roar across and volley a winner.
Second set: Kvitova* 6-1, 3-3 Barty At 30-0 Barty attempts a drop-shot/lob double-whammy, which is eyecatching but fatally undermined by an overhit lob. Kvitova also holds to love.
Second set: Kvitova 6-1, 2-3 Barty* Barty holds to love! She won 31% of all points on her first serve in the first set, and is winning 83% of those points in this one.
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Second set: Kvitova* 6-1, 2-2 Barty Barty comes to the net again, but Kvitova powers the ball down the line and Barty overhits her volley. Then at 15-15 there’s an excellent rally, with Barty repeatedly hitting heavily sliced backhands just over the net. Kvitova wins that, only to giftwrap the following point with a wild forehand.
Barty Australian takes it to deuce with perhaps her best shot of the match, a vicious crosscourt backhand return, and wins the next point to earn a chance of a break. Kvitova wins that, and eventually the game, but this set is an entirely different beast to the first.
Second set: Kvitova 6-1, 1-2 Barty* Kvitova comes to the net on the back of a strangely tentative approach shot, and Barty punishes her for it. The crowd roars, and again when Barty hits a forehand winner to take the next point. She holds to 15, the game won when Kvitova’s sliced backhand down the line return floats about three feet wide.
Second set: Kvitova* 6-1, 1-1 Barty Kvitova starts with a double fault, and then goes 15-30 down when a mishit lands well long. She mistimes another shot in the next rally, but this one lands in and she resumes control from there. Barty, though, is not offput, and wins her first break point of the match with an excellent backhand down the line. Whereupon Kvitova comes up with her first ace of the match, follows it with her second ace of the match, and though she has to come through another deuce she holds from there.
Second set: Kvitova 6-1, 0-1 Barty* A game of immense important for Barty, who desperately needed a foothold in this match. And she’s got one, holding to 15 and winning the game with her, and the match’s, first ace!
Kvitova storms to the first set in 27 minutes!
First set: Kvitova* 6-1 Barty The first point is won with an absolutely phenomenal backhand, struck crosscourt and landing perfectly in the corner of the court. Barty was running in the other direction and got absolutely nowhere near it, so it would have been a clean winner even if it had been much less precise, but it was perfection. Barty tries to change things up by coming to the net, but doesn’t really have the wingspan to trouble Kvitova from there, abandons that experiment pretty swiftly, and goes back to being beaten from the baseline. Kvitova wins the first set in double-quick time, and has looked fantastic doing so.
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First set: Kvitova 5-1 Barty* This is not at all what the whole of Australia were hoping it would be. Kvitova breaks again, to love this time, and will now serve for the set.
First set: Kvitova* 4-1 Barty Kvitova is 9-2 up on winners (a statistic that hadn’t changed for a couple of games until she smashed a straightforward forehand crosscourt to win this one), and 11-3 up on unforced errors. Barty has only taken 15 points, so she has only actually won 27% of those.
First set: Kvitova 3-1 Barty* The first point goes thus: Barty serves, pretty well. Kvitova meets it at shoulder height from inside the baseline, and pummels a winner crosscourt. And so it goes. There are two types of point here: the ones Kvitova wins when she nails a phenomenal winner, and the ones she loses when she fails to nail her phenomenal winner. Barty is just hanging in there and hoping for the best, and on this occasion it’s enough to win the game (though an excellent serve down the middle on game point wraps it up).
First set: Kvitova* 3-0 Barty This has been a brilliant start from Kvitova, who is smashing winners around the court with terrifying ease. But then at 30-0 she hits a forehand wide and then another long, and follows that with a double fault. Barty finds herself with a break point, having not hit a winner all game. She very nearly wins it as well, but Kvitova saves herself with a fantastic defensive backhand, hit from a couple of feet behind her body, and reasserts herself from there.
First set: Kvitova 2-0 Barty* An early break! A lovely crosscourt backhand drop-shot from Kvitova makes it 15-15, and then from a similar position she powers one down the line, another clean winner. She hits a return long to lose the next point, but then another backhand winner sets up break point. Barty deals with that very impressively, with a fine first serve out wide followed by a powerful drive into the empty court, but Kvitova hits another backhand winner to set up another, and Barty having saved that one earns one more with a drop shot. And this one she wins with a vicious return to Barty’s ankles!
First set: Kvitova* 1-0 Barty Kvitova won the coin toss, chose to serve, and does so. She’s pretty much straight in the groove, hitting the first serves, and going 30-0 up with an excellent forehand. Barty passes well to make it 30-15 but her foothold in the game does not last long, and Kvitova wins it with an unreturnable serve down the middle.
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The warm-up is over. Action imminent.
Barty walks out, to wild shrieks of appreciation.
Kvitova is introduced to the crowd, and warmly received.
Kvitova is backstage on the RLA, and ready for action. Looks like this is about to happen!
The whole quite-tennis-to-play-cricket thing makes Barty’s story really unique. Here she is on returning to tennis two years ago:
I was very young, but I turn 20 this year and it’s a different perspective on life and tennis in general. If it works, great. If it doesn’t, I can’t really complain. I’ve had a phenomenal career for the short time that I did play.
The evening session was due to start at 7pm local/8am GMT, but the day session went on a bit late, hence the slight delay. Something should actually happen shortly.
Pat Cash is working for Eurosport, who unconventionally are doing without a studio and just chatting in the middle of a crowd outside the Rod Laver Arena. Here’s what he’s got to say about the sense of excitement in Australia for this match:
It’s been a long time since we could legitimately get excited about a player and get to a final, but I think she can do it, I really can. But also, her personality – people love her. After the controversy of the men’s players, to see a player like this, it’s just a really great story of someone who is doing great. That’s what you want, a great story.
Collins will play the winner of the Kvitova v Barty match in the semi-finals. She has a brief chat on-court:
My first time playing on Rod Laver, and I didn’t even practice on here before, so this was quite the experience. All the Australian fans have really made me at home here, it’s just an incredible atmosphere here.
And Collins wins! Although Pavlyuchenkova redoubles her efforts in the final minutes to make it a bit of a fight at the end, Collins takes it 2-6, 7-5, 6-1.
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On the Rod Laver Arena at the moment, Danielle Collins is smashing Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova. Having lost the first set 2-6, she’s now 5-0 up in the third. Collins is 25, the world No35, and before this tournament had never won a Grand Slam match in five attempts over three years.
Hello world!
For the first time in a decade there is an Australian woman in the second week of the singles at the Australian Open. Ashleigh Barty, the 22-year-old from Ipswich, Queensland, is in her first Grand Slam quarter-final, having only once previously made it past the round of 32. She faces Petra Kvitova, veteran of five Grand Slam semi-finals, 10 quarter-finals, winner of two Wimbledon titles, and winner also of the only three previous matches between these two players.
These matches have, though, been increasingly close. After a humdrum 6-1, 6-2 Kvitova victory in the 2012 French Open they would not meet again for five years, until Kvitova came through a three-setter at Edgbaston in 2017. Then just over a week ago they played an absolute snorter in the final of the Sydney International, Barty storming through the first set before losing the next two on the slenderest of margins. “One day,” Kvitova said at the end, “you’re going to make it for sure.” Is this going to be that day?
This would probably be a good place for a match report from Sydney:
And here’s Kevin Mitchell’s take on Barty’s victory over Maria Sharapova in the last round:
“I know that I have to go out there and try and be as brave as possible,” Barty said of this match. “If I get my opportunities, they’ll be few and far between so I know I have to take them with both hands and try and really get stuck into her service games.”
It’s bold talk. On this stage, under this pressure, with all this attention, in the biggest match of her career, can Barty blossom? She has already proven that she can trouble Kvitova; now she only has to beat her. Welcome, one and all. Let’s see how she goes, shall we?
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