Dubai Telegraph - Barty targets first final as Australian Open down to last four

EUR -
AED 3.879454
AFN 71.766172
ALL 98.446538
AMD 408.727287
ANG 1.903424
AOA 962.189651
ARS 1055.136057
AUD 1.630409
AWG 1.901181
AZN 1.789518
BAM 1.961728
BBD 2.132343
BDT 126.201335
BGN 1.9588
BHD 0.398064
BIF 3118.741826
BMD 1.056211
BND 1.421281
BOB 7.297188
BRL 6.105428
BSD 1.056091
BTN 89.136639
BWP 14.496666
BYN 3.456143
BYR 20701.745225
BZD 2.128773
CAD 1.480962
CDF 3026.046048
CHF 0.937129
CLF 0.037557
CLP 1036.439301
CNY 7.636301
CNH 7.645963
COP 4727.78219
CRC 539.429963
CUC 1.056211
CUP 27.989605
CVE 110.599191
CZK 25.276513
DJF 188.054673
DKK 7.458575
DOP 63.873001
DZD 141.196108
EGP 52.131744
ERN 15.843172
ETB 130.910644
FJD 2.402194
FKP 0.833686
GBP 0.831777
GEL 2.883565
GGP 0.833686
GHS 16.976135
GIP 0.833686
GMD 74.991397
GNF 9102.504493
GTQ 8.155953
GYD 220.943428
HKD 8.217753
HNL 26.666577
HRK 7.53423
HTG 138.767993
HUF 406.15981
IDR 16809.289017
ILS 3.948874
IMP 0.833686
INR 89.180057
IQD 1383.48038
IRR 44458.579959
ISK 146.095547
JEP 0.833686
JMD 167.185173
JOD 0.748958
JPY 164.521312
KES 136.515348
KGS 91.231852
KHR 4289.881246
KMF 492.563931
KPW 950.589942
KRW 1479.650439
KWD 0.32489
KYD 0.880043
KZT 523.582077
LAK 23200.543009
LBP 94573.658376
LKR 308.542304
LRD 194.845062
LSL 19.330811
LTL 3.118718
LVL 0.638891
LYD 5.158587
MAD 10.547972
MDL 19.130443
MGA 4948.044906
MKD 61.515768
MMK 3430.533723
MNT 3589.00659
MOP 8.466021
MRU 41.984863
MUR 49.842827
MVR 16.318166
MWK 1831.198548
MXN 21.74186
MYR 4.732353
MZN 67.489547
NAD 19.330811
NGN 1774.287045
NIO 38.86892
NOK 11.740652
NPR 142.624361
NZD 1.797365
OMR 0.406676
PAB 1.056111
PEN 4.024312
PGK 4.184644
PHP 62.056118
PKR 293.325825
PLN 4.325535
PYG 8247.922253
QAR 3.849933
RON 4.976236
RSD 117.044056
RUB 105.092045
RWF 1449.953783
SAR 3.967208
SBD 8.854807
SCR 14.362927
SDG 635.317643
SEK 11.596225
SGD 1.417832
SHP 0.833686
SLE 24.097471
SLL 22148.231865
SOS 603.523631
SRD 37.343937
STD 21861.445383
SVC 9.240923
SYP 2653.762908
SZL 19.339168
THB 36.814269
TJS 11.257603
TMT 3.707302
TND 3.335479
TOP 2.473748
TRY 36.27907
TTD 7.170667
TWD 34.391332
TZS 2809.522312
UAH 43.536853
UGX 3875.711004
USD 1.056211
UYU 44.865568
UZS 13525.870313
VES 47.523829
VND 26827.771874
VUV 125.395551
WST 2.94851
XAF 657.932577
XAG 0.034763
XAU 0.000412
XCD 2.854464
XDR 0.795596
XOF 657.976316
XPF 119.331742
YER 263.843317
ZAR 19.268254
ZMK 9507.174232
ZMW 28.963064
ZWL 340.099669
  • RBGPF

    -0.9400

    59.25

    -1.59%

  • SCS

    -0.0260

    13.344

    -0.19%

  • BTI

    0.1800

    35.6

    +0.51%

  • CMSD

    0.0250

    24.755

    +0.1%

  • NGG

    0.4400

    62.56

    +0.7%

  • BCC

    -1.6100

    140.94

    -1.14%

  • GSK

    0.1110

    35.221

    +0.32%

  • RIO

    -0.2050

    60.415

    -0.34%

  • CMSC

    0.0150

    24.625

    +0.06%

  • RYCEF

    -0.1500

    6.96

    -2.16%

  • RELX

    0.1950

    46.315

    +0.42%

  • AZN

    0.5950

    65.885

    +0.9%

  • BCE

    0.1150

    27.325

    +0.42%

  • JRI

    0.0100

    13.25

    +0.08%

  • VOD

    0.0300

    8.78

    +0.34%

  • BP

    0.3150

    28.885

    +1.09%

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.

I.Mansoor--DT