Ash Barty is again looking every inch the world No 1 after repelling a familiar battling effort from Angelique Kerber to power into the final of the Western & Southern Open.
The Australian overcame a blip in concentration early in the second set to recover her magisterial form in another early start on Saturday and then roar to a 6-2, 7-5 victory in just under 75 minutes in Cincinnati.
In a reprise of their Wimbledon semi-final last month when Barty also came out on top in straight sets, the Queenslander soon seemed to have a measure of control as she raced through the first set in 27 minutes.
Barty had reeled off six straight games before Germany’s three-time grand slam winner showed her steel and finally took advantage of a dip in Barty’s form and concentration levels to break her twice.
The Wimbledon champion regained her equilibrium and struck for her crucial fifth break of Kerber’s delivery in the 12th game of the second set to make it into her sixth final of the season, without having dropped a set so far in the tournament.
“It’s never, ever a walk in the park against Angie, she’s an exceptional competitor and I think early on in that second set she lifted and went into another gear and it took me a few games to go with her,” said Barty, who took her head-to-head record against Kerber to 4-2 in her favour.
“Angie won the big points early on in the second set so I was glad I was able to find a way through there in the end,” Barty added. “I had to find the balance between being aggressive and not being too passive and not letting Angie dictate.”
“In the two games I got broken, she just saw too many second serves and was able to be assertive. So I’m really happy to get through, and to be playing for a title here in Cincinnati is awesome.”
The Aussie will on Sunday shoot for a fifth title of what she calls her “grand adventure” of a season – against Swiss wildcard Jil Teichmann, who accounted for Czech Karolina Pliskova, Barty’s opponent in the Wimbledon final, 6-2 6-4.
In the men’s event, Daniil Medvedev missed out on a place in the final after losing to Russian compatriot Andrey Rublev following an angry run-in with a courtside TV camera. Rublev, prevailed 2-6, 6-3, 6-3, will play Alexander Zverev in the final after the German accounted for Greece’s Stefanos Tsitsipas 6-4, 3-6, 7-6(4).