Petra Kvitova sent defending champion Angelique Kerber packing from the rain-affected Sydney International Thursday to book a semi-final spot and get an edge over her rival heading into the Australian Open next week. It was always going to be a tight match with the pair tied 6-6 in 12 previous meetings.
Play was suspended early in the first set due to rain. They returned several hours later but the drizzle soon began falling again and it was back to the locker room for the two tournament drawcards. They eventually resumed at 10:30pm and Czech fifth seed Kvitova, who won the title in 2015, took charge, quickly racing through the first set to put the German world number two on the back foot.
Kvitova kept the pressure on and got a crucial break in game four of the second set and there was no way back for Kerber who meekly surrendered 6-4, 6-1. "The weather has not been great and it's not easy to wait in the locker room, but I was glad I could come back out and play so well," Kvitova said after reaching the semi-finals in Sydney for a fourth time.
Her reward is a clash with Belarusian qualifier Aliaksandra Sasnovich, who beat Switzerland's Timea Bacsinszky - on the comeback trail after a 14-month winless spell - 6-3, 6-3. Australia's Ashleigh Barty followed up her giant-killing wins over world number one Simona Halep and former French Open champion Jelena Ostapenko by easily accounting for 10th seeded Belgian Elise Mertens 6-3, 6-3.
The 22-year-old is now on a six-match win streak, dating back to her career's biggest title at the WTA Elite Trophy in Zhuhai. "Nice and solid today, I was pretty happy at the way I was able to come out and play," said Barty, ranked 15 in the world.
She will play seventh seed Kiki Bertens who blasted past Yulia Putintseva 6-2, 6-2 for a place in the final.
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