World No.1 Ashleigh Barty fired off 17 aces as she downed former Australian Open champion Sofia Kenin 6-3, 6-4 in the quarter-finals of the Adelaide International on Friday. Barty was in superb form as she saw off world number 12 Kenin in just 68 minutes of quality tennis. The Australian, 25, served beautifully, winning 31 of 32 points on her first serve and nine of 16 on her second, not giving Kenin any opportunities to break. 

By contrast, Kenin’s serve was not nearly as effective and while she was only broken once in each set, she struggled to hold throughout. The American’s chances were also not helped by the 26 unforced errors she made, many coming from her forehand side. Barty is playing in her first tournament since taking a pandemic-enforced break at the end of last September’s US Open. Her semi-final opponent is in-form Iga Swiatek, who beat former World No.1  Victoria Azarenka 6-3, 2-6, 6-1. Seventh seed Elena Rybakina moved into the final four with a come from behind 3-6, 6-3, 6-2 win over American Shelby Rogers.