Bertens stuns World No 1 Barty in Group Stage match at WTA finals

Speed Post News Network

Patna : World No 10 Kiki Bertens, 27, Netherlands, upset top seed and World No 1 Ashleigh Barty, 23, Australia, in the Red Group match at WTA Finals at Shenzhen, China, on October 29, 2019. Bertens stunned Barty 3-6, 6-3, 6-4 rallying back from one set down in the Group Stage match in 2hr 9 minutes.

Bertens had replaced Australian Open Champion and World No 3 Naomi Osaka, 22, Japan, in the round robin event. Osaka, who had won her first match in Red Group on October 27, 2019, was scheduled to play Barty on October 29 but withdrew due to injury. Eight top singles players and 8 double teams split into two groups of four participate at the tournament.

Bertens won 7 break points in the match to 6 by Barty. Bertens also won 8 games in a row in the match to 3 by World No 1 Barty. The Dutch fired 6 Aces to 4 by the Australian. Barty had defeated World No 7 Belinda Bencic, 22, Switzerland, in her first group match on October 27.

Bencic, the 7th seed, defeated 6th seed and two-time former Wimbledon Champion Petra Kvitová, 29, Czech Republic, 6-3, 1-6, 6-4 in another Red Group match on October 29. Both the players won 5 break points each in the match. Both of them also won 4 games each in a row in the match. Bencic fired 5 Aces in the match to 8 by Kvitová, who had lost to Osaka in her first Group Stage match on October 27.