WUHAN: Australia’s Ashleigh Barty pulled off a major upset against former world No. 1 Karolina Pliskova in the quarterfinals of the Wuhan Open on Thursday, downing the No. 3 seed 4-6, 7-6 (7/3), 7-6 (7/2).
Barty, ranked 37th in the world, failed to convert three match points in the third set but dominated the deciding tiebreak to bag her first ever win against a top-five player.
The 21-year-old Barty had already seen off Agnieszka Radwanska, seeded nine, and Johanna Konta, the fifth seed in a dream run in the humid Chinese city.
“I played a really good match and I’m just happy to come through at the end,” she said.
“It was really important for me to look after my service games and obviously try and make inroads into Karolina’s games and I was able to do that.”
After Pliskova’s exit, there are now just three seeds remaining in the competition.
The Czech, who is the world No. 4 but who spent eight weeks at number one this year, had looked strong in the earlier rounds as she breezed past China’s Zhang Shuai and Wang Qiang.
Barty will face either world No. 1 Garbine Muguruza or Jelena Ostapenko, seeded eight, in the semifinals.
Meantime, Muguruza said a Laver Cup-style tournament would be “awesome” for women’s tennis, but warned it would be difficult to schedule in an already packed calendar.
Muguruza said she had seen clips of Team Europe’s Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal battling Team World for the maiden title last weekend in a packed stadium in Prague.
“I just love that people go and watch tennis and the stadium was full,” she said. “It would be awesome to also have it on the women’s side.”
But the 23-year-old Spaniard, speaking at the Wuhan Open in China, warned it would be tough to find a date.
“It could be a mess to figure out when we could do it. No matter what you want to do with our schedule, it’s very hard,” she told AFP.
The Laver Cup format, similar to golf’s Ryder Cup, saw Rafael Nadal, Roger Federer, Alexander Zverev, Marin Cilic, Dominic Thiem and Tomas Berdych representing Europe against the Team World’s Sam Querrey, John Isner, Nick Kyrgios, Jack Sock, Denis Shapovalov and Frances Tiafoe.
World No. 2 Roger Federer clinched the first ever title for Team Europe by beating Nick Kyrgios in a super tie-break thriller.
Caroline Wozniacki, the world No. 6 , also warned a women’s Laver Cup would be tough to arrange.
“If it did happen on the women’s side everyone would have to stick together in wanting to play that week and not go for another tournament,” she said. “So I’m not sure if it would work.”
Early autumn is a particularly hectic period for the top female tennis players as they launch themselves into the Asian swing in Tokyo before zooming off to Wuhan and then Beijing in a bid to qualify for the WTA Finals in Singapore.
Barty, ranked 37th in the world, failed to convert three match points in the third set but dominated the deciding tiebreak to bag her first ever win against a top-five player.
The 21-year-old Barty had already seen off Agnieszka Radwanska, seeded nine, and Johanna Konta, the fifth seed in a dream run in the humid Chinese city.
“I played a really good match and I’m just happy to come through at the end,” she said.
“It was really important for me to look after my service games and obviously try and make inroads into Karolina’s games and I was able to do that.”
After Pliskova’s exit, there are now just three seeds remaining in the competition.
The Czech, who is the world No. 4 but who spent eight weeks at number one this year, had looked strong in the earlier rounds as she breezed past China’s Zhang Shuai and Wang Qiang.
Barty will face either world No. 1 Garbine Muguruza or Jelena Ostapenko, seeded eight, in the semifinals.
Meantime, Muguruza said a Laver Cup-style tournament would be “awesome” for women’s tennis, but warned it would be difficult to schedule in an already packed calendar.
Muguruza said she had seen clips of Team Europe’s Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal battling Team World for the maiden title last weekend in a packed stadium in Prague.
“I just love that people go and watch tennis and the stadium was full,” she said. “It would be awesome to also have it on the women’s side.”
But the 23-year-old Spaniard, speaking at the Wuhan Open in China, warned it would be tough to find a date.
“It could be a mess to figure out when we could do it. No matter what you want to do with our schedule, it’s very hard,” she told AFP.
The Laver Cup format, similar to golf’s Ryder Cup, saw Rafael Nadal, Roger Federer, Alexander Zverev, Marin Cilic, Dominic Thiem and Tomas Berdych representing Europe against the Team World’s Sam Querrey, John Isner, Nick Kyrgios, Jack Sock, Denis Shapovalov and Frances Tiafoe.
World No. 2 Roger Federer clinched the first ever title for Team Europe by beating Nick Kyrgios in a super tie-break thriller.
Caroline Wozniacki, the world No. 6 , also warned a women’s Laver Cup would be tough to arrange.
“If it did happen on the women’s side everyone would have to stick together in wanting to play that week and not go for another tournament,” she said. “So I’m not sure if it would work.”
Early autumn is a particularly hectic period for the top female tennis players as they launch themselves into the Asian swing in Tokyo before zooming off to Wuhan and then Beijing in a bid to qualify for the WTA Finals in Singapore.
