Six of eight places at the season finale are still up for grabs -- only Halep and Kerber have qualified so far. Wozniacki, this year's Australian Open winner, will face reigning Olympic champion Monica Puig later on Wednesday.
Ashleigh Barty and Angelique Kerber after losing a point against Ashleigh Barty in Wuhan yesterday. Pic/AFP
In-form Australian Ashleigh Barty said she was hitting top gear as she upset Wimbledon champion Angelique Kerber 7-5, 6-1 to reach the Wuhan Open quarter-finals in China on Wednesday. Barty didn't allow Kerber any momentum as she denied the world number three the chance to narrow the gap on the top ranking held by Simona Halep, who lost her opening match. Barty, last year's runner-up in Wuhan, came storming out of the blocks, taking a 3-0 lead in the first set before the German offered some resistance to make it 5-5. It was a short-lived fightback, however, as Barty, Australia's top-ranked player, quickly regained control to take the first set.
ADVERTISEMENT
She began the second set even stronger, racing to a 5-0 lead as Germany's Kerber struggled to contain her unforced errors. The Aussie wrapped up the match in just over 75 minutes, setting up a quarter-final against Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova. "I feel like by far this was my best match," said Barty, who is looking to end the 2018 season on a high. "I set myself that goal at the start of the year, that I want to stay top-20. I feel like I'm a top-20 player. Obviously I would love to push towards the top 10," she added. "It's been a really exciting year and hopefully there is a couple of big tournaments left."
Barty, who won her first tour-level tournament this year in Nottingham, has been in fine form in Wuhan after beating Jo Konta and Zheng Saisai in the first two rounds. Kerber and Halep's exits have presented an opportunity to world number two Caroline Wozniacki to push towards the top spot as well as qualification for next month's WTA Finals in Singapore. Six of eight places at the season finale are still up for grabs -- only Halep and Kerber have qualified so far. Wozniacki, this year's Australian Open winner, will face reigning Olympic champion Monica Puig later on Wednesday.
Catch up on all the latest sports news and updates here. Also download the new mid-day Android and iOS apps to get latest updates
This story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed, agencies. Mid-day accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability, trustworthiness, reliability and data of the text. Mid-day management/mid-day.com reserves the sole right to alter, delete or remove (without notice) the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever
Subscribe today by clicking the link and stay updated with the latest news!" Click here!
