The Fort Worth Press - Barty targets first final as Australian Open down to last four

USD -
AED 3.672992
AFN 70.133383
ALL 94.842026
AMD 395.580026
ANG 1.804346
AOA 912.00034
ARS 1025.759898
AUD 1.602821
AWG 1.8
AZN 1.697588
BAM 1.882867
BBD 2.021574
BDT 119.644379
BGN 1.880202
BHD 0.377128
BIF 2960.110518
BMD 1
BND 1.358742
BOB 6.933
BRL 6.194503
BSD 1.001184
BTN 85.269243
BWP 13.847976
BYN 3.2761
BYR 19600
BZD 2.013584
CAD 1.437885
CDF 2870.000398
CHF 0.89864
CLF 0.035896
CLP 990.479665
CNY 7.298044
CNH 7.309305
COP 4412
CRC 508.40686
CUC 1
CUP 26.5
CVE 106.152136
CZK 24.1701
DJF 177.720187
DKK 7.17222
DOP 60.744919
DZD 134.98701
EGP 51.082795
ERN 15
ETB 127.445129
EUR 0.961385
FJD 2.31915
FKP 0.791982
GBP 0.79805
GEL 2.810239
GGP 0.791982
GHS 14.716981
GIP 0.791982
GMD 71.999908
GNF 8649.86113
GTQ 7.714117
GYD 209.453215
HKD 7.769925
HNL 25.431896
HRK 7.172906
HTG 130.918858
HUF 396.680097
IDR 16236.6
ILS 3.668815
IMP 0.791982
INR 85.099249
IQD 1311.582727
IRR 42087.507346
ISK 139.489886
JEP 0.791982
JMD 156.294374
JOD 0.709101
JPY 157.212987
KES 129.410222
KGS 87.000227
KHR 4015.287164
KMF 466.124966
KPW 899.999441
KRW 1452.715027
KWD 0.308198
KYD 0.834344
KZT 522.298758
LAK 21907.970735
LBP 89653.446284
LKR 296.456748
LRD 182.216382
LSL 18.450808
LTL 2.95274
LVL 0.60489
LYD 4.916557
MAD 10.07331
MDL 18.431237
MGA 4720.07355
MKD 59.11801
MMK 3247.960992
MNT 3397.99987
MOP 8.012226
MRU 39.868303
MUR 46.849883
MVR 15.401708
MWK 1736.116794
MXN 20.188525
MYR 4.490995
MZN 63.903729
NAD 18.450808
NGN 1549.009854
NIO 36.842891
NOK 11.36604
NPR 136.426385
NZD 1.772013
OMR 0.385005
PAB 1.001155
PEN 3.734542
PGK 4.061671
PHP 58.5605
PKR 278.964317
PLN 4.100974
PYG 7816.23802
QAR 3.650078
RON 4.7831
RSD 112.469005
RUB 101.22354
RWF 1386.599923
SAR 3.756333
SBD 8.383555
SCR 13.945487
SDG 601.496786
SEK 11.050725
SGD 1.357355
SHP 0.791982
SLE 22.799239
SLL 20969.503029
SOS 572.228988
SRD 35.122986
STD 20697.981008
SVC 8.760656
SYP 2512.530243
SZL 18.445513
THB 34.313026
TJS 10.93762
TMT 3.51
TND 3.188686
TOP 2.342098
TRY 35.248405
TTD 6.80058
TWD 32.6828
TZS 2407.501494
UAH 42.08155
UGX 3679.440094
UYU 44.794871
UZS 12917.511035
VES 51.572209
VND 25450
VUV 118.722003
WST 2.762788
XAF 631.468646
XAG 0.033668
XAU 0.000382
XCD 2.70255
XDR 0.767561
XOF 631.489923
XPF 114.811624
YER 250.375025
ZAR 18.546835
ZMK 9001.196139
ZMW 27.70697
ZWL 321.999592
  • NGG

    0.5200

    59.02

    +0.88%

  • RYCEF

    -0.0200

    7.25

    -0.28%

  • GSK

    0.4600

    34.06

    +1.35%

  • BP

    0.1500

    28.75

    +0.52%

  • AZN

    1.2800

    66.63

    +1.92%

  • BTI

    -0.0200

    36.22

    -0.06%

  • RELX

    0.1200

    45.59

    +0.26%

  • RIO

    0.5900

    59.23

    +1%

  • RBGPF

    0.0000

    60.5

    0%

  • CMSC

    0.0420

    23.902

    +0.18%

  • SCS

    -0.0900

    11.65

    -0.77%

  • VOD

    -0.0200

    8.37

    -0.24%

  • BCE

    -0.3200

    22.84

    -1.4%

  • BCC

    -0.5100

    122.24

    -0.42%

  • CMSD

    -0.0100

    23.55

    -0.04%

  • JRI

    0.0400

    12.1

    +0.33%

Barty targets first final as Australian Open down to last four
Barty targets first final as Australian Open down to last four

Barty targets first final as Australian Open down to last four

World number one Ashleigh Barty will look to reach her first Australian Open final Thursday but is wary of "exceptional athlete" Madison Keys blocking her path.

Text size:

The first Grand Slam of the year hits the women's semi-final stage with top seed Barty trying to stay on course to be the first Australian woman to lift the trophy since 1978 against unseeded Keys.

In the second semi-final, Polish seventh seed Iga Swiatek faces 27th-seeded American Danielle Collins, who is enjoying life and tennis after surgery last year freed her from chronic pain.

Barty is renowned as one of the best tacticians in the game and has out-thought and out-played all her opponents so far while blasting through the top half of the draw without dropping a set and barely breaking sweat.

As well as "problem-solving" her way out of tricky moments, Barty has developed an exceptional all-court game which beaten quarter-final opponent Jessica Pegula said "picks you apart".

Keys, who made the last four in 2015 and lost to eventual champion Serena Williams, said it was important for her to "continue to focus on my side of the net".

But she also knows Barty's dangerous backhand slice must be blunted. "You can't do a ton off of her slice because it comes in so low," said Keys.

Two-time Grand Slam winner Barty is aiming to succeed Chris O'Neill, who was the last Australian to lift the women's singles trophy all of 44 years ago.

But the down-to-earth Australian is taking nothing for granted against a player who has already beaten 2020 champion Sofia Kenin, eighth seed Paula Badosa and fourth seed Barbora Krejcikova in her run to the final four.

"Maddie is an exceptional athlete, she has a great serve, great first strike off the return and off her first ball after her serve," she said.

In the second semi-final, big-hitting American Collins expects Swiatek, the 2020 French Open champion, to be "very relentless, powerful, strong".

But after making the semis at Melbourne Park in 2019, the 28-year-old believes she now has the experience to press on.

"Now that I've made quarter-finals at French and semi-finals here before, I think I can use those experiences to certainly help me in the tight-pressure moments on court. I can use that to my advantage," she said.

Swiatek is still just 20 but has also gained huge experience since her French Open triumph, and is in the second week for a sixth consecutive Grand Slam.

But this is the first time she made the last four away from the Paris clay.

"I will approach it the same as any other match, really. I have played with some heavy hitters in this tournament already, so I feel like I'm feeling their game on my racquet pretty well," she said.

W.Lane--TFWP