Ashleigh Barty thrashes Pegula, reaches her second Australian Open semi-final
Women's world number one Ashleigh Barty claimed a straight-set win over American player Jessica Pegula to reach the semi-finals of the 2022 Australian Open. The Australian entered her second semi-final at this Slam after beating Pegula 6-2, 6-0 in over an hour. The two-time Grand Slam champion last reached this stage in the 2020 edition. Barty is vying for her maiden Australian Open title.
The women's singles quarter-final ran for an hour and three minutes. Barty won a total of 63 points and 17 winners in the match. She fired as many as six aces. The Australian won 50% of receiving points (28/56) and 71% of net points (5/7). Meanwhile, Pegula recorded 26 unforced errors. Barty smashed the fastest serve of the match (184 KPH).
🇦🇺 CLINICAL 🇦🇺@ashbarty defeats Jessica Pegula 6-2 6-0 in 63 minutes to advance to another #AusOpen semifinal.#AO2022 pic.twitter.com/8YoG2KKdXK
— #AusOpen (@AustralianOpen) January 25, 2022
Barty has reached at least the quarter-finals at the Australian Open since the 2019 edition (Quarter-finals: 2019 and 2021. Semi-finals: 2020 and 2022). Before 2019, the 2021 Wimbledon champion never went past the third round in Melbourne.
Barty has a win-loss record of 9-0 in the ongoing season. Earlier this year, she won the Adelaide International 1 (WTA 500) after defeating seventh seed Elena Rybakina in the final. She dropped just one set in the tournament. At the ongoing Australian Open, Barty has claimed straight-set wins over Lesia Tsurenko, Lucia Bronzetti, Camila Giorgi, Amanda Anisimova, and Pegula.
Barty has lost just 17 games in five matches at the 2022 Australian Open to reach her fourth Grand Slam semi-final. She is aiming to become the first Australian woman to lift the trophy in Melbourne since Chris O'Neil in 1978. Barty will face Madison Keys in the semi-final, who beat Barbora Krejcikova 6-3, 6-2 earlier in the day.
