By Adrianna Outlaw | Thursday, November 2, 2017
Ashleigh Barty pumped 11 aces defeating Angelique Kerber, 6-3, 6-4, to advance to the Zhuhai semifinals.
Photo credit: Western & Southern Open
Ashleigh Barty anticipated a tough time in round-robin play of the WTA Elite Trophy Zhuhai.
Barty was tougher.
Watch: Top 5 Martina Hingis Partnerships
The 21-year-old Aussie pumped 11 aces defeating Angelique Kerber, 6-3, 6-4, to advance to the Zhuhai semifinals.
Barty, who hit nine aces in a 6-4, 6-1, victory over Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova yesterday, said strong serving empowered her to play aggressive return games.
"It was tough group for me because I hadn't actually beaten either of those girls," Barty told the media in Zhuhai. "It's nice to sort of get that revenge this week, but I felt like I served great all week and put myself in a good position in my service games to then be super-aggressive and nice and clear when returning."
Anastasija Sevastova backed up her win over US Open champion Sloane Stephens with a 6-3, 6-4 sweep of Barbora Strycova.
Trailing 0-2 at the outset, a fired-up Sevastova reeled off 20 of the next 24 points storming to a one set lead. Sevastova broke Strycova in the seventh game of the second set and never looked back.
The 15th-ranked Latvian concluded round-robin play with a 2-0 record to advance to the final four from the Cameillia Group.
CoCo Vandeweghe slashed 11 aces and did not double fault or face a break point in a 6-3, 6-2 victory over sixth-seeded Elena Vesnina.
The second-seeded Vandeweghe moved into the semifinals with a 2-0 round-robin record following her opening win over Chinese wild card Peng Shuai.
"It was tricky in itself, playing against an opponent that's obviously hampered," said Vandeweghe. "You're just trying to kind of manage your own emotions with that and trying to keep your intensity, keep your focus, and that definitely gets a little bit tough."
Continuing her quest for a season-ending Top 10 spot, the 12th-ranked Vandeweghe said she’s connecting with coach Pat Cash’s motivational musings to pump herself up.
“It was more inward,” Vandeweghe said. “Just kind of allowing momentum to slip knowing I’ve been talking with Pat a bunch and he’s been very intense with me that I work too darn hard to let these matches slip. So that’s what I was kind of tapping into in today’s match. “