All quarterfinal matches were completed on Thursday at the Sydney International, even though the schedule was badly affected by rain.
The highlight of the day was the 13th encounter between Grand Slam champions Petra Kvitova and Angelique Kerber, which finished close to midnight, after twice being interrupted by rain. The fifth-seeded Kvitova used her powerful and deep groundstrokes to break the defense of the second-seeded defending champion Kerber and with a 6-4 6-1 victory got ahead 7-6 in their head-to-head stats. The Czech’s opponent in the semifinals will be Belarusian qualifier Aliaksandra Sasnovich, who beat Timea Bacsinszky 6-3 6-3.
Last year’s runner-up Ashleigh Barty, the Australian No.1 who had eliminated top-ranked Simona Halep from the draw and followed it up by beating tenth seed Elise Mertens 6-3 6-3 in Thursday’s quarterfinal, will face seventh seed Kiki Bertens, a straight-set victor over Yulia Putintseva.
Our Jimmie48 had another long day at the office, but that’s why we have plenty of excellent photos from all four today’s singles matches.
MORE SYDNEY INTERNATIONAL 2019 PHOTOS:
- Wednesday: Halep exits early, Kvitova completes quarterfinal lineup
- Tuesday: Kerber reaches quarterfinals, Kvitova & Stephens win openers
- Monday: Muguruza beats compatriot Suarez Navarro in the first round
