Speed Post News Network
Patna : Top seed and World No 1 Ashleigh Barty, 23, Australia, beat two-time former Wimbledon Champion Petra Kvitová, 29, Czech Republic, in her third match in the Red Group at WTA Finals at Shenzhen, China, on October 31, 2019, to top the group with two wins and one defeat. Barty beat 6th seed Kvitová 6-4, 6-2 in 88 minutes at Shenzhen Bay Sports Center, Shenzhen, China, winning 3 break points in the match.
The Australian won 5 games in a row in the match. She won 46 service points to 37 by World No 6 Kvitová. Barty fired 6 Aces in the match to just 1 by Kvitová. The Czech committed 5 double faults to 2 by the Australian.
Barty had won her first match on October 27, 2019, beating 7th seed Belinda Bencic, 22, Switzerland. But, she lost her second match to Kiki Bertens, 27, Netherland, a replacement for Australian Open Champion Naomi Osaka, Japan, on October 29, who retired before her second Group Stage match due to injury.
World No 7 Belinda Bencic also won her second match in Red Group on October 31 after her opponent and World No 10 Kiki Bertens, Netherlands, retired due to illness in second set trailing 5-7, 0-1 to finish the Group Stage with 2 wins and one loss. Bencic had lost her first match to Barty on October 27 but won her second match against Petra Kvitova on October 29.
Both Barty and Bencic have advanced to SFs of the WTA Finals.