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Patna : World No 153 Svetlana Kuznetsova, 34, Russia, stunned top seed and World No 2 Ashleigh Barty, 23, Australia, in the semi-finals on August 17, 2019, night, to reach the final of Cincinnati Open, a WTA Premier Hard Court event, at Ohio, USA. A Wild Car entry into the main singles draw, Kuznetsova beat Barty, the reigning French Open champion, 6-2, 6-4 in the semi-finals.
A resurgent Kuznetsova, who had won US Open title in 2004 and French Open title in 2009 besides reaching Wimbledon QFS four times and US Open QFs thrice, won 4 break points in the match to 1 by Barty. Kuznetsova broke Barty’s service thrice in the first set and once in second set to book a birth in the Cincinnati final.
The Russian won 8 games in a row to 2 by the Australian. Kuznetsova won 33 service points to 28 by the Australian. Barty served 3 Aces in the match to just 1 by Kuznetsova. Barty could have regained her World No 1 position had she reached the final.
Kuznetsova will the face the winner of the second semi-final between World No 18 Madison Keys, USA, and World No 65 Venus Williams, USA, in the final. Venus has won 7 Grand Slam si gles titles including 5 Wimbledon titles.