WUHAN, September 29, 2017 (Press Release)
Australia’s Ashleigh Barty meets Frenchwoman Caroline Garcia in Saturday’s Dongfeng Motor Wuhan Open final in what will be one of the biggest matches of either player’s career.
Barty continued her outstanding run of upset wins this week by ending Roland Garros champion Jelena Ostapenko’s chances of winning a second consecutive title with a 6-3, 6-0 win. Ostapenko, who was victorious in Seoul last week, showed signs of fatigue during Friday’s semi-final and was no match for Barty’s inspired tennis.
“It been an unbelievable week. We’ve played some really good tennis,” said Barty “I think for us, we’ve been able to play a really consistent level throughout every match. We haven’t had any real drops. We’ve been able to change things tactically a little bit and be able to implement those really well.”
The defeat of Ostapenko is Barty’s third top ten win of the week and her fourth top 20 win this tournament after she beat Catherine Bellis (41), Johanna Konta (7), Agenieszka Radwanska (13), Karolina Pliskova (4) en route to the last four.
“I think every match is the same for me. It doesn’t matter whether it’s the first round at Wimbledon or the final here tomorrow,” said Barty, currently ranked 37. “I think for me I try and approach the match the exact same way.”
Caroline Garcia
Garcia, ranked 20, has also been hitting top form this week. She beat former world No.1 Angelique Kerber, last year’s Wuhan Open runner-up Dominika Cibulkova and Ekaterina Makarova before ending qualifier Maria Sakkari’s winning streak in Wuhan. Garcia always looked in control against Sakkari in their semi-final as she notched up a 6-3, 6-2 win.
“I thought it was not as clinical as it could be, but it was definitely a good match. I played very well the key moments and key points. That’s make a difference,” said Garcia after beating Sakkari.
“She (Barty) has a great serve. Her technique on her serve makes it very difficult to read. I know I have to be aggressive and I will have to play my best match of the week, for sure. She’s using a lot of slice on backhand. She beat some amazing players through the week. I mean, I don’t know how many top 10. Everything was very impressive. I know it will be very interesting match. That’s why I train hard. That’s the match I want to play.”
RESULTS – SEPTEMBER 29, 2017
Women’s Singles – Semifinals
A. Barty (AUS) d [8] J. Ostapenko (LAT) 63 60
C. Garcia (FRA) d [Q] M. Sakkari (GRE) 63 62
Women’s Doubles – Semifinals
[1] Y. Chan (TPE) / M. Hingis (SUI) d [3] S. Mirza (IND) / S. Peng (CHN) 76(5) 64
S. Aoyama (JPN) / Z. Yang (CHN) d [4] A. Barty (AUS) / C. Dellacqua (AUS) walkover
ORDER OF PLAY – SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 30, 2017
CENTRE COURT start 5:00 pm
[1] Y. Chan (TPE) / M. Hingis (SUI) vs S. Aoyama (JPN) / Z. Yang (CHN)
Not Before 7:30 pm
A. Barty (AUS) vs C. Garcia (FRA)
